The Brother Amulets
by MochaButterfly
Summary: Ginny and Draco get Portkeyed to New York City. Takes place during Ginny's sixth year, Draco's seventh. Read and review, please!!!
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One

Chapter One

The Trip

Ginny Weasley was happy to be back in Hogwarts. It was her sixth year and she would be turning sixteen in a month. For some reason, she was more excited about this year than any other. And she wasn't even one of the oldest students. 

Ginny felt like she'd grown up a lot in the past few years. First year (and even before that) she'd been obsessed with her older brother Ron's best friend, Harry Potter. Now she wasn't so lovesick. She still thought he was amazing looking. He'd gotten even cuter between the first time she'd seen him and the present. He wasn't so skinny any more, but more lanky. Ginny liked the lanky look much better than the muscle look most other boys had. She also found it incredibly sexy the way his inky black hair was always sticking in every direction, despite his half-hearted attempts to smooth it down. And, for some strange reason, he looked excellent in glasses. They seemed to emphasize his clear, bright green eyes.

Yet Ginny had tried to move on and succeeded. It was true whenever Harry glanced at her that her insides felt all mushy. But she had gone out with a few other guys her age, who were actually interested in her, and had finally realized there were many other fish in the sea.

During the Sorting, Ginny sat with her four friends Sarah, Rachel, Melanie, and Laura. She had become really close with them only a year before, but she'd been sharing a dormitory with them since first year. She really liked them even though they were sort of air-headed. But they always made her feel like her problems were small and insignificant. 

The only serious one in the group was Laura, who Ginny didn't like. She'd never really said it out loud before, but it was obvious Laura didn't like her either. They both pretended to like each other, because Sarah, Rachel, and Melanie seemed to like both of them equally. Laura and Ginny had an odd friendship, sort of an unwritten and unsaid agreement: _Stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours._

"I got absolutely _no_ tan this summer," Rachel whined, putting her arm against Melanie to compare skin colors.

Melanie's parents had moved to England from Spain when she was just a baby. So naturally Melanie had darker Spanish skin than any of them.

"Don't feel bad," Laura said coolly. "Ginny doesn't tan."

Ginny resisted the urge to give her a glare. It was true, though. She had very pale skin, dotted with many freckles. When she was younger she had a lot of them on her face, but over the years they diminished so only the ones on her nose were visible. She was thankful for that at least.

"But she's got the _cutest_ freckles," Sarah squealed. She patted Ginny's head. "And dark skin with this gorgeous red hair? Uh-uh. Doesn't work."

Ginny was used to compliments about her hair. It was the only thing she really liked about her appearance. Even though everyone in her family had the same flame colored hair, hers was the longest. It fell down to her shoulder blades. Since it was able to grow, it was wavy. Her hair was sort of thin, but she had a lot of it, so it appeared thicker. 

The Sorting of the first years ended, and they were able to eat. Ginny, who'd been starving, not having touched the dry roast beef sandwich her mother had given her to eat for lunch on the train, spent most of her time eating and not talking. She sort of listened to her friends' conversation, but it was full of complaints about how frizzy their hair had gotten from spending so much time in the sun.

Ginny sighed, the happiness from returning to school fading some. Why did right now she feel as if her friends were making her problems seem worse, when before they'd made her feel as if nothing else mattered? _Something is missing in my life,_ she thought, frowning.

Across the Great Hall, Draco Malfoy sat at the head of the Slytherin table. His two "friends" Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, sat on either side of him, eating their dinner as if they'd been starved all their lives. Draco watched them in disgust, his own appetite lost. After having not seen them all summer, he had forgotten how nauseating they made him when they were near food. _I'll get used to it soon_, he told himself, pushing his plate away and leaning back in his chair.

He surveyed the Great Hall. Once again, the Hufflepuffs still had a bunch of losers. Their first years were no different than the seventh years ¾ all totally, helplessly stupid. The Ravenclaws . . . well, was there really anything to say about them? And then ¾ the Gryffindors.

Draco sneered as he looked over in their direction. He didn't bother looking at any of the new first years. His eyes went right to Potter, Weasley, and Granger. The most idiotic of them all. The three people who somehow made Hogwarts fun . . . fun for Draco because they were perfect candidates for being picked on. Weasley, being incredibly poor. Granger, being a Mudblood. And Potter . . . well, for being Potter. For being the skinny, famous kid who'd come to Hogwarts and picked being friends with the sorriest people he could manage. 

"What are you staring at, Draco?" a disgustingly sweet voice said, very close to Draco's ear. 

He jumped, but only because he wasn't expecting it. Instantly he knew it was Pansy Parkinson. Or as some of the Gryffindors called her: (though never to her face; Draco only overheard some saying it in the library) Pansy "The Pug" Parkinson. It was true, she did sort of look like a pug, what with her nose upturned. And she'd gained weight since Draco had first met her. 

He'd dumped her in fifth year, but she had continued to act like they were still "together" since then. 

"Nothing," Draco snapped coldly.

Pansy looked hurt for a moment, backing off. But then she smiled brightly again (she was the only person where smiles looked out of place on her face ¾ except for maybe perhaps Draco's own). "Trying to figure out how to ruin Potter's life, are you?"

"Something like that," Draco muttered.

"That's sweet," Pansy purred, slipping her arms around one of Draco's and hugging it. 

"It would be even sweeter if you let me go," Draco told her. "What part of 'we don't date anymore' don't you understand?"

"The 'date' part," Gregory said stupidly. Draco stared at him. Sometimes him and Vincent said the weirdest ¾ and most idiotic ¾ things.

Pansy gave Draco a dark look. "Fine. I'll just sit over there."

If she thought she was punishing him, she was doing the exact opposite. "Good," Draco said to her rather large retreating back.

Draco sighed. His life was always the same. It was beginning to bore him. When would something exciting happen?

The next day flew by fast for Ginny. She figured it was because she was adjusting to a new year at Hogwarts, and the professors spent most of the time talking about what they would be doing over the course of the year. 

After classes ended that day, Ginny lounged in the Gryffindor common room with her friends. None of them had any homework, being the first day back in school. So they just told about their summers.

"Let's go for a walk," Laura said superiorly, standing up. It was about an hour before dinner.

The other three girls stood up quickly. As much as Ginny hated to admit it, Laura was sort of the leader of their group. The other girls seemed to follow her like baby ducks to their mother. It was kind of annoying, but Ginny never complained. She was never the one to complain much (she was used to getting second best, since she'd grown up with six older brothers and nearly no money, everything being used by someone else before her). 

So they went for a walk around the castle. Nothing had really changed since the year before. They did find, of course, several staircases they'd never seen before and figured out ¾ the hard way ¾ that they were fake and led up to a solid wall.

Laura stopped right in front of the girls' bathroom. The others stopped, too. Ginny noticed a rather nasty grin on Laura's face, and then realized they were standing in front of the girls' bathroom no one used. A very annoying ghost, Moaning Myrtle, haunted it so no one really wanted to use it and face her crying, whining about how her death wasn't any better than her life.

"Let's pay Myrtle a visit, shall we, girls?" Laura asked.

Melanie, Sarah, and Rachel looked at each other nervously. "Are you sure you want to?" Rachel asked slowly.

"Don't join me then," Laura spat. "Chickens."

Of course, they were right behind her as they all went in. 

Ginny didn't go. She stayed outside, furious that her friends didn't have opinions of their own. Didn't they see what a mean person Laura was? _No, they don't_, Ginny thought angrily. _They only like her because she's so beautiful and they reckon she can make them popular. Well, it hasn't happened yet, and it's been six years. When do they think it will happen?_

She crossed her arms, her brows furrowed angrily. Then, she saw something glittering out of the corner of her eye. She turned, her expression softening. Down the hall, about five yards away, something lay on the ground. It reflected the light of the torches . . . and the way it sparkled it oddly looked like ¾

"Diamonds," she whispered, approaching it slowly.

She stood above it, staring down. On the red carpet directly below her was a necklace. It had a long gold chain and a gold amulet. The amulet was slightly bigger than a flattened Snitch. And it was covered with diamonds. _Or rhinestones or some sort of white stone_, she thought. _It's really beautiful. It must cost a fortune._

"Hey, come here, guys!" Ginny shouted over her shoulder in the direction of the girls' bathroom. For some reason, she hesitated touching it without someone around. It could be a trick necklace, she figured, and it might disappear as soon as I touch it. I want some witnesses to say that it's really there. "I found a diamond necklace!"

That last sentence would surely draw them.

Laura poked her head out of the bathroom. "What did you say?"

Ginny stood aside and gestured at the necklace. "A diamond necklace," she said, somewhat proudly.

Laura slowly ventured out, followed by Melanie, Sarah, and Rachel. "Is this some kind of joke?" Melanie demanded.

"Look at it," Ginny said. "It looks real, doesn't it?"

She reached down to pick it up. She'd almost touched it when someone called out.

"No! _Don't_ touch it!" 

Ginny straightened sharply, batting her hair out of her eyes. To her shock, she saw Draco Malfoy hurrying down the hall towards her. It was the first time she'd ever seen him not flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. 

He stopped in front of her, the amulet on the floor between the two of them. Ginny watched in mild surprise as Draco stared at the amulet, his jaw clenched. He looked almost angry.

"Why can't I touch it?" Ginny demanded angrily, finally recovering from seeing him there. She did not like Draco Malfoy at all. He had never really made fun of her directly, but he'd always picked on her brother Ron about having no money. And she took offense to that, because she had no money either. "Do you want to keep it for yourself?" 

He fixed his gray eyes on her. They were unreadable, though is mouth twisted in a sneer. He really was a handsome guy, but Ginny knew what a horrible person he was and felt absolutely no attraction to him. "Maybe," he said.

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. Then, she swooped down and scooped the necklace up out of pure defiance. Her fingers touched the amulet itself, the chain flipping and hanging around her wrist.

As she started to straighten, she heard Draco cry out, "No!"

She saw him move, and by the time she was totally erect again, he had grabbed her wrist.

Before she could even think of pulling free, she felt a tugging around her naval. The Hogwarts hallways melted and disappeared, and then the world molded itself back together. 

Only she wasn't in Hogwarts.

She was standing in some filthy alley, Draco Malfoy still holding onto her wrist, the amulet still gripped in her fingers.

"Portkey," she whispered. 


	2. The United States of America

Disclaimer: Obviously, all the characters belong to the wonderful and all mighty JK Rowling

Disclaimer: Obviously, all the characters belong to the wonderful and all mighty JK Rowling. However, the character's personalities MIGHT belong to me, because I interpret the way I'd think they'd act and think and so forth. The plot is totally mine, unless someone offers a lot of money for it. In that case, it shall be theirs, and I will be a bit richer.

A/N: Thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it. I've been writing HP fanfiction for the longest time but never had the guts to publish it on the Internet. I'm glad I did! If you've noticed, I've rated this PG13 this time. I don't think there will be much PG13-ness in this chapter, but for later stuff . . . maybe for romance? *grins* Anywho, let's get into the story, shall we?

Chapter Two 

_The United States of America_

_ _

Draco jerked his hand from Ginny's wrist, feeling very annoyed. He'd _told_ her not to touch it. And if she'd actually _listened_ they wouldn't be . . . wherever they were.

Ginny was gazing in amazement at the necklace. He wasn't sure if it was because she'd never seen something so valuable in her life, or because it had been a Portkey.

"Great going, Weasley," Draco snapped at her.

"Where are we?" she asked softly, ignoring him. She looked around.

"What, this isn't your house?" Draco sneered.

She snapped her head back to look at him, her dark brown eyes flashing angrily. "And you wonder why you have no friends," she told him hotly.

"Who says I don't have friends?" he asked nonchalantly. "Anyway, since you don't know where we are, and I don't either, we have bigger problems to worry about right now." 

Without waiting for her response, he turned and walked the length of the filthy alley. When he emerged, he felt surprised. It was a first in his life; he normally always known what to expect. Feeling surprised made him even more surprised.

Ginny was right on his heels, and stepped around him out of the alley. Her mouth dropped open. For a minute, they both just looked around. They were in a city of some sort . . . and it looked kind of like London: people rushing by, heads down and hoping not to make contact with anyone, cars driving by, honking their horns. Only ¾

"They're driving on the wrong side of the road!" Ginny cried, pointing at the street and the cars that flashed by. 

Draco rolled his eyes in disgust. Of course, Ginny probably knew everything there was about Muggles, her father loving them so much and all. Draco, on the other hand, never paid any attention to cars. 

But as he watched the street, it did sort of look out of place. He'd been to London a few times before, and had sort of gotten used to the rush of traffic. Here, it looked different.

"Did you ever take Muggle studies, Weasley?" Draco demanded.

"Fifth year," Ginny said distractedly.

"Do you remember anything about people driving on the wrong side of the road?" He made his voice as harsh as he could. Here he was, lost in some Muggle city with a Weasley. He was not in the best of moods.

"Yes. . . ." she said, her voice trailing off. "I think . . . something about . . . in different countries, they drive on the wrong side of the road. Well, not the _wrong_ . . . it's the right side for them."

"Different countries?" Draco repeated, tearing his eyes from the street to stare at her. "Great, so we could be in China?"

She gave him a look that said _You are so stupid_. "Malfoy, look around. Is there any Oriental writing? No. We're not in Asia. We're bound to be in some English-speaking country."

"Weasley, shut up. You're giving me a headache."

He heard her sigh angrily. "You're just upset because I made you feel stupid."

"I'm not upset," he said calmly. "I'm just a little annoyed right now. We're in a city that's obviously full of Muggles. We don't have any Muggle money, and all I have is about ten Galleons in my pocket. That won't get us anywhere unless we can manage to find a wizarding store that can get us back to England. So basically, we're broke. Money is what makes the world go 'round ¾ and that's why you and your pathetic family aren't going anywhere."

Ginny placed herself right in front of him, looking taller than she ever had. "You're lucky I don't believe in the Dark Arts. If I did, then you would be writhing in agony on the floor right now."

"Somehow I doubt you would, even if you did believe in the Dark Arts."

"Hmm. You're closer to the truth than you know, Malfoy. I'll leave that to you and your awful father."

He had started to turn away, but spun back around at her last sentence. "I'm not like my father," he hissed, his gray eyes fixing furiously on her dark ones. She stared back at him, looking stunned.

Then he took a step back and grabbed a passerby's shoulder, partially out of anger.

The man he grabbed got one glimpse of Draco and his eyes widened in fright. "Here ¾ take it all!" he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out his wallet and threw it at Draco, and hurried away. 

The wallet bounced off Draco onto the ground, but he was too busy watching the man run in amusement to pick it up.

Ginny did it for him. "Malfoy, that was really cruel of you," she told him sternly. The moment before seemed to have been forgotten.

"Who are you, my mother?" he asked, snatching the wallet out of her hands.

"No, thank God," Ginny muttered.

"I was just going to ask him where we were," Draco said, choosing to ignore her comment. He opened the wallet and flipped through it. There were plastic cards, one of which had writing and the man's picture on it. While Draco tried to read the small writing, Ginny reached into the fold and took out several green bills. 

She made a weird noise in the back of her throat. Draco looked up and saw her turning paler than she normally was.

Draco realized the bills were Muggle money. "Yes, it is a lot, isn't it?" he said with a smirk, even though he had no idea how much it was. "Maybe you can buy yourself some non-used robes with it."

But Ginny didn't look offended. She shoved the bill in Draco's face. "We're in America," she announced.

He scanned the money. It had the number 10 in each corner and a picture of someone in the center. Above the picture was written _The United States of America_.

"What kind of currency does America use?" Draco asked. He hated how he sounded . . . as if he and Ginny were equals.

Ginny inspected the bill closely. "Dollars," she read. She counted up the bills in her hands. "Two ones, three fives, two tens, and three twenties. That would make ninety-seven dollars total. And I don't know if that's a lot."

"Sure it's a lot ¾ for you," Draco said, taking the money and putting it back in the wallet. "Well, at least we have money. We can buy a train tickets back to England."

"Train ticket?" she repeated. "America is across the Atlantic Ocean. And unless the Muggles built some sort of train track across the ocean that we don't know about, I don't reckon you can get to England from America and vice versa by train."

"And you can't get here by broom," Draco said sourly. "So how do you get here ¾ besides a Portkey?"

"I don't know," Ginny said irritably. "I grew up in an all wizarding family just like you did. I don't know everything."

"There's a shock," Draco said sarcastically.

Ginny glared and opened her mouth to say something. Before she could utter a sound, someone tapped Draco on the shoulder. And it wasn't a gently tap with one finger. It felt like the person was digging their nails into him. 

He and Ginny spun around. "Hey ¾" Draco said angrily, ready to tell the person off.

But he stopped as soon as he saw who it was. It was someone dressed in black robes. The person was short, obviously a man, and a hood was shadowing his face and making his features un-identifiable. After they stood there and gaped at him for a minute or two, he reached up and took his hood off. Draco instantly noticed he had a silver arm. 

"I know you," Draco said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at the man's pudgy face, watery eyes, and baldhead. "You always come to my father's dinner parties. They call you Wormtail."

"You are Lucius Malfoy's son?" Wormtail asked quietly.

"Yes."

Wormtail glanced at Ginny, then back at Draco. "Where is Harry Potter?"

"He's not here," Ginny piped up loudly.

"Not here?" Wormtail repeated. Draco saw a flicker of panic cross over his bland features. "You picked up the amulet instead?"

"That's right," Draco said, shrugging. "We didn't know it would Portkey us here. Are you going to take us back?"

"Of course I will take _you_ back," Wormtail said, looking distracted and worried. He then fixed his beady eyes on Ginny. "You're a Weasley, aren't you?"

"Yes." Ginny didn't look the least bit intimated. 

Draco studied Wormtail's face. He noticed a look there . . . a look all Death Eaters got at his father's dinner parties when they talked about people they despised and wanted to kill. It was the look of someone about to kill someone else.

Draco didn't really even think. "Weasley," he said quietly.

"What?" She sounded annoyed.

He watched as Wormtail reached with his one good hand into his robes, obviously trying to find his wand. "Take my advice . . . and run."

Ginny actually took his advice. Without hesitating she spun around and sprinted into the flow of people. Wormtail found his wand and looked up just as she blended in with the crowd.

"Fool," Wormtail hissed at Draco. "Your father will be most displeased to hear that you saved the Weasley girl."

"Right," Draco said. He turned and ran after Ginny. Actually, he hadn't saved her. He'd only told her to run. It wasn't like he'd blocked the blow or anything. 

He could see her fiery hair up the sidewalk. He was only about ten yards behind her. The crowd was so thick, though, it was hard to run and maneuver around them at the same time. 

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw to his shock that Wormtail was actually running after them. But he didn't dare try and kill them, not with so many people around and risking that he might hit one of them instead.

Or at least that's what Draco hoped Wormtail was thinking.

When Draco turned to look forward again, he didn't see Ginny's hair. For a moment, he felt a little confused. Then, up ahead, he saw that she was on the ground. She must've slid on something because she was on her side, propped up by one elbow, looking too amazed to jump right back up.

Draco reached her and grabbed her by the armpits, heaving her to her feet. "Come on, he's getting closer," Draco snapped at her, and took the lead.

He didn't bother to look and see if she was still with him. He could hear her panting. They ran for what seemed like ages. But every time Draco looked over his shoulder, he saw Wormtail's baldhead only a few people behind them.

"Malfoy," Ginny gasped. "Malfoy, I can't run much longer."

Draco looked for a place to hide. His eyes rested on a bus, loading passengers, about twenty yards ahead. "We'll get on that bus," he told her.

As they reached it, the last passenger had got on and the doors were shutting. Draco squeezed himself between the sliding doors to stop them from closing. The driver looked annoyed, but opened and let them both come on.

Draco slid into an empty seat towards the back, Ginny beside him, and peered out the window. Wormtail was just reaching the bus stop as it pulled away. He looked like he was shouting in fury, because a few people stared at him, but Draco couldn't hear over the roar of the bus.

"Well," Draco said, smirking at Ginny, "that was fun. Wanna do it again?"

Okay, that's Chapter Two! I'll try to put out a chapter a day. Unless I'm on vacation, and when school starts I might not be able to . . . hopefully I'll be done by school, though. Please review! Love you all . . . *kisses near the screen* 


	3. Voldemort's Plan

Disclaimer: Everything but plot belongs to JK Rowling 

A/N: I really suck at thinking of chapter names. So the name of this chapter only slightly has to do with what goes on. Sorry. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. Oh, and about those ¾ things. They're supposed to be dashes. You know – those things. I used special characters so that's why they showed up as ¾ thingies. I'll just not use special characters anymore. Now, story time.

Chapter Three 

_Voldemort's Plan_

Ron, Harry, and Hermione were walking back from the library when a bunch of girls ran up to them. Ron instantly recognized them as sixth years – the ones his sister hung out with. 

He didn't know any of their names, but they knew his.

"Ron," one of them panted, the shortest one with the darkest skin. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

"For me?" Ron was surprised. Usually the girls were looking for Harry. But then he noticed they looked a bit panicked, and wondered where Ginny was. 

"It's Ginny," said another one coolly, crossing her arms as if she thought she were the queen of the world.

Ron was immediately alarmed. "What about her? Is she okay?"

"Dumbledore told us to come and get you," a third girl said breathlessly. 

"Why? What's going on?" He gave Harry and Hermione a look, and they just shrugged at him, looking concerned.

"We were there," the final girl told him. "There was this necklace on the floor –"

" – and Ginny started to pick it up," the third girl finished.

"But then Draco Malfoy came," the dark-skinned girl added.

"Malfoy?" Harry repeated.

"And he told her not to touch it, but she did."

"So then he grabbed her wrist and they both vanished into thin air," the girl completed.

"And now Dumbledore wants to see you, like we said," the conceited-sounding girl told him regally. "So are you coming or not?"

It took Ginny about five minutes to slow her breathing. She wasn't sure if it was because she'd been running so long and hard, or because she was hyperventilating because Draco Malfoy had saved her.

Well, he really hadn't saved her. Ginny wasn't one hundred percent sure if that bald guy with the silver arm called Wormtail would've killed her. Yet the thing was that Draco could've gone back. He could've gone with Wormtail and left her alone in America. But he hadn't. He'd stayed with her, and even picked her up when she'd slid on some stupid pencil on the ground (her father had a large collection of Muggle pencils so she knew what one was). That he'd even touch her was an amazing thing in itself.

So she sat kind of awkwardly beside him, suddenly aware that the seat was so small their thighs were touching. She tried to ignore it and leaned forward so she could see around him out the window.

"What city do you reckon we're in?" she asked, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, I can't choose," Draco said with a fake sigh. "I mean, I just know so much about Muggle American cities and everything. I'm not sure which one we're in."

Ginny shook her head, leaning back. "Sorry for being friendly," she muttered.

"I don't need you to be friendly," Draco snapped at her. "In case you haven't noticed, I do not enjoy being with you."

"Are you afraid some of me right rub off on you? That you might actually become _nice_ for a change?" Ginny challenged, raising her eyebrow at him. 

"Right and wrong," he said lazily, scooting down in the seat so his knees bumped the back of the seat in front of them. "I'm not afraid – I'm worried. I'm worried that some of you might rub off on me, like your filth or something. But not your _goodness_."

Ginny stared at him. _He's mocking me!_ she thought angrily. Huffing, she crossed her arms and turned her body towards the aisle and away from him.

"How did you know that the necklace was going to Portkey us here?" Ginny demanded crossly.

"I didn't. You think I would've grabbed your wrist like that if I had thought it was a Portkey?" he shot back.

"Then why didn't you want me to touch it?"

Draco sighed so heavily she actually turned to look at him. "Where is it?" he asked, sounding exasperated.

She reached into her pocket and pulled it out. "Right here," she said, holding it out to him.

"That amulet has been in a glass case in my father's office way before I was born," Draco told her, sounding as if he would've rather jumped in front of the bus then tell her this. "I was never allowed to touch it. Even if I got near it I would be punished. Probably because I was breathing on it. And it was in a damn glass case anyway. But when I saw it on the floor I knew it wasn't right. My father once told me it had enough power to burn someone into a pile of ashes. I knew it was some sort of trap, but I never expected it to be a Portkey."

Ginny stared down at the amulet. "Are you sure this is the same one? I mean, it hasn't burned either of us to a pile of ashes yet –"

"Yes, it's the same one," he snapped irritably. "You can't duplicate it." Ginny wondered why, but he didn't explain. "So are you satisfied now?" He turned towards the window without waiting for her answer.

Ginny sighed and draped the necklace around her neck, tucking it under her robes. _Draco's such a jerk_, she thought furiously.

They stayed on the bus for a very long time. After a while, Draco fell asleep beside her, sprawled out with his head back. Ginny stared at him, wondering how he could make such an awkward position look so smooth. She knew if she had been sitting like that, her mouth would've been open and she would've been breathing loudly, perhaps drooling. 

Ginny was feeling tired, too. A few hours went by, and she began to recognize some of the same stops. But the driver never asked why they were still there. 

It was becoming impossible for her to keep her eyes open. She wanted to be the one who stayed awake, just in case something happened. But it was getting so difficult. _Why can't I stay awake?_ she wondered, glancing out the window. The sun was just starting to go down. It seemed like it was only seven or eight at night.

Then she realized something. Obviously, America was in a different time zone. She didn't wear a watch, and neither did Draco, from what she could see. So she didn't know what time it was in England. It had to be at least twelve o'clock. And having gotten up so early for classes she was beginning to feel very tired. 

Just as it started to get dark, the remaining passengers got off the bus. For the first time ever, the driver looked at Ginny and Draco in the rearview mirror, giving them a look that clearly indicated he wanted them off so he could get home.

"You two have been on this bus all day," he said gruffly. "Are you ever going to get off?"

"We'll get off here," Ginny said without even glancing at where they were. 

As the bus screeched to a stop, she poked Draco in the arm. He woke without a word, as if he'd been awake the whole time. Since she was in the aisle seat, she led the way off the bus. She had just started down the steps when the driver grabbed her arm.

"Hey," he snapped. "You have to pay."

Ginny looked at Draco, who had all the money. Once again without speaking he took out a bill marked 10 and handed it to the driver, who grumbled and shoved it in a box beside him. He muttered something that sounded oddly like "foreigners." 

__They both got off the bus, and it drove away noisily. It was then Ginny got a look at their surroundings. Obviously they were in the shabbier part of town, but it was still busy. It wasn't even dark yet and most of the stores had bright neon lights on in their windows. People passed by in groups, talking and laughing loudly. Ginny immediately felt out of place.

"Let's find an inn or something," she said to Draco.

"We can't," he told her flatly.

She turned to look at him. "What do you mean, we can't?"

"Exactly what I said," he replied sharply. "We can't. Do you know how much it will cost to get back to England?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything." He sighed and looked annoyed. "We both don't have any idea how much it will take to get back to Hogwarts. Already we've wasted some on that bus ride. If we spend more on places to sleep then we might not have enough to get back."

"So you're saying we don't eat or sleep until we get back to Hogwarts," Ginny said dubiously.

"We can sleep," he snapped irritably. "We just won't have beds. And humans can live up to two weeks without food, so we'll be all right for a few more hours."

"So where do we sleep?" Ginny demanded sarcastically, throwing her hands out. "On newspapers in the alley?"

Twenty minutes later, that's exactly where they were – lying on old newspapers in the cleanest alley they could find. They were each lying on different sides. One of the buildings was a cheap apartment house, and someone was screaming at someone else. Another person was playing loud music. With all the noise and the uncomfortable sleeping place, Ginny did not fall asleep as quickly as she anticipated.

"I'm never going to fall asleep," Ginny moaned after ten minutes.

"Why are you complaining? Aren't you used to sleeping in places like this?" Draco shot back.

Ginny, with much reluctance, ignored the insult. She shifted onto her back, the newspapers crinkling loudly. Knowing she wouldn't fall asleep any time soon, she asked the question that had been on her mind all day. "Why did that guy Wormtail want Harry?"

Draco sighed, sounding very annoyed. "Who am I, an Oracle? How am I supposed to know what he wanted with Potter?"

"You said you knew him," Ginny snapped. "I just thought that maybe you would know what he wanted."

"All right, Weasley, you put the pieces together. Wormtail is a Death Eater. Think about it. Why would a Death Eater want Potter?"

Her eyes widened in the dark. "He was going to give him to You-Know-Who!" she cried.

"Maybe you aren't as brain-dead as I originally thought," Draco muttered. "Now can you shut up? I'm trying to sleep."

Amazingly, Ginny started to drift off into sleep, too. Her last thought was, _I reckon Malfoy just gave me the closest thing to a compliment he'll ever be able to manage._

A/N: Okay, this chapter is kind of boring. But just bear with me . . . it will get better! More Harry and Ron will be coming, and towards the end Hermione will have a big part, too. Keep reviewing!


	4. Draco to the Rescue

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling except for my plot 

A/N: Okay, I just put out Chapter Three today and I'm starting Chapter Four. I guess you can say this story is seriously growing on me. I'm considering a sequel (would you want to read it?) Anyway, I suppose I should finish this story first, huh? Once again, I have a stupid title for the chapter. But at least it sort of has to do with the story. All right, here we go.

Chapter Four Draco To the Rescue

Ginny had a very hard time sleeping that night. She woke up many times. Finally, the last time she woke up, the sun was just starting to rise, and she didn't bother to try and go back to sleep again. She just lay there for a long time. 

After a while, Draco rolled over, making his newspapers rustle. 

"Malfoy?"

"Hmm?" he said sleepily.

"You awake?"

"No, sound asleep. You?"

"That was the worst night's sleep of my life," she said, sighing, not even bothering to look at him.

"I don't want to hear you complain," he snapped. "You're used to this . . . how do you reckon I feel? I've never slept anywhere but a bed in my entire life."

"I've always had a bed to sleep in," Ginny told him angrily, sitting up and propping herself up with one hand. She glared at him, but he didn't look over at her. "But unlike you, I've also had people who loved me."

"Great for you, but that really doesn't have anything to do with beds."

"Do you reckon the Dark Lord will get Harry?" she asked, changing the subject abruptly.

He glanced at her for a moment, and then looked away. "I really don't care," he said simply.

"Of course you care."

"No, I don't. I just said I didn't. Are you going deaf?"

"I heard you," she snapped, feeling frustrated. "But no one is that cruel except for Voldemort –" She winced at saying the name " – and probably your father. And you're not like your father."

"How do you know I'm not like him?"

"Because you told me!" she exclaimed, staring at him in surprise. 

"I hate my father," he said.

There was a long pause. Ginny was surprised he'd actually told her that. "I hate him, too," she agreed.

"But sometimes," Draco continued, not hearing her, "when you're raised by someone you hate, you can't help but be like them."

"Then why did you just say you weren't yesterday?"

"Hmm." He stared coldly at her. "I have been known to lie, haven't I?"

Ginny shivered, his gray eyes giving her the chills. She stood up and paced for a moment, unsure of what to do. He was confusing her. Yesterday, he'd saved her from Wormtail, only to tell her today that he was like his father?

She didn't like Lucius Malfoy at all. She'd heard Ron, Harry, and Hermione talk about him a lot, and all the stories were terrible. Not to mention that he strongly supported to Dark Lord. _Why did Malfoy tell me yesterday that he wasn't like his father,_ Ginny wondered, _and then now tell me the exact opposite?_

Nothing made sense. And her stomach was rumbling – she hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. Glancing back at Draco, she realized his eyes were closed again. Was he asleep again?

It didn't matter. She didn't feel like speaking to him anymore. Instead of sleeping, she had important things to do. Like finding a way back to England.

Maybe there would be something in the newspapers. Not caring how much noise she made, she scooped up all the newspapers in the alley (except the ones Draco was sleeping on) and sat down, her back against the brick wall. She went through them noisily, throwing Draco angry glances every few seconds. His expression remained the same and he never once opened his eyes.

For ten minutes, Ginny found nothing. Most of the newspapers were old and yellowed, from as long as two years ago. But she continued looking for some sort of transportation. Obviously, Muggles had to have some sort of air transport. How else would they travel across oceans?

_Boats!_ she thought suddenly. She stood up quickly, feeling like hitting herself for not thinking of it sooner. _Of course – Muggles use ships! God, I'm such an idiot. It's the most obvious thing in the world and it took me this long to think of it!_

But first she needed to know where the nearest coast was. For all she knew they could be in the middle of the continent. Then she realized all she had to do was glance at the newspaper. On the top in big black letters read _The New York Times_.

She'd heard of New York. It was practically the _only_ city she'd heard of. Was it on the coast? She couldn't remember. She'd never really studied geography of the world before. Her mother had forced her to learn Europe before she went to Hogwarts, but other than that, she hadn't had any teachings on geography. 

Leaving Draco in the alley, Ginny emerged onto the sidewalk. It was really sunny – much brighter than it had been in the alley. She blinked several times. The sidewalks were just as crowded as they had been the day before. 

Ginny stopped the first person she could. But the man took one look at her, rolled his eyes, and kept walking on without even letting her finish her sentence.

She stared after him, stunned. _That was very rude_, she thought. _Did he do that for a reason? Is something wrong?_

Staring down at herself, she found nothing wrong. She looked up again, and then noticed something. She was the only one wearing black robes. Everyone else wore Muggle clothes.

Ginny returned to the alley and took her robes off. Throwing them on Draco in hopes to wake him up (he didn't even flinch and his eyes remained closed) she turned and returned to the sidewalk.

This time she stopped a man in a navy suit. "Excuse me, sir," she said, flashing him her brightest smile. To her immense relief, he smiled back. For a moment there she'd been afraid no one would stop and talk with her. "I was just wondering where I could get tickets for the next boat to England."

His smile faded slightly, and he stared at her strangely. "Uh, there's a travel agency a few blocks from here, if that's what you mean."

"Great," Ginny said, even though she had no idea what a travel agency was. "Where exactly is it?"

He gave her directions. She thanked him and returned to Draco. He still hadn't even moved.

"Malfoy," she said surprisingly harshly. "Get up. I have a way to get us back."

Opening his eyes lazily, he took his time standing up. When he did, he raised his eyebrow at her robes being thrown across him. Embarrassed, she grabbed them back and stuffed them into a garbage can without explaining. 

"Take your robes off," she told him.

"Most girls don't ask me that," he said with a grin. "They just take it off for me."

Ginny rolled her eyes, but felt her cheeks burn. "We're out of place if we wear our robes. If you want to be stared at then be my guest and wear them."

"I get stared at no matter what I do," Draco said confidently.

_What an egotistical git!_ Ginny thought, turning away and stalking out of the alley.

A few minutes later they were navigating their way through the crowded sidewalks. Ginny figured that everyone was going to work – she saw a clock in the window of a store and found it was only eight o'clock in the morning.

_People at Hogwarts must've realized I'm missing by now_, she thought, leading the way since Draco had no idea where they were going. _Not to mention my friends witnessed Malfoy and I being Portkeyed. I wonder if they're trying to find us. But for all they know we could be anywhere. Why would anyone suspect we'd be in America?_

It was very humid out. Ginny was sweating by the time they reached Tooey's Travel Agency.

But inside, it was much cooler. She stepped in, followed by Draco, and then stood there. Unsure of what to do, she flashed a glance at him. He only stared blankly back for a moment before looking away first.

Fortunately, a tall middle-aged man with huge nostrils approached them. He seemed to notice they were uncertain, but his smile was very bright and very false.

"Hello," he said primly. "May I help you?"

"Yes," Ginny replied, taking a step further inside the room. It was full of desks, only some of them occupied. "I was hoping to get boat tickets – two – back to England."

"Of course," he said as if he'd known all along. "Follow me?"

Ginny gave Draco an amused look, and he rolled his eyes and sneered, as if blaming her for bringing him there.

The man sat behind on desk, and Ginny and Draco took two chairs in front of him. He gave them another false smile. "My name is Zechariah Montgomery. Have you ever signed with a travel agent before?"

"We just want tickets," Ginny told him, trying not to laugh at his absurd name. 

His smile froze on his face. "Of course," he said again, and turned to type away into his computer (Ginny knew what a computer was because her dad had once brought one home to try and work without electricity. In the end he'd gotten so frustrated he'd thrown it out with the garbage). "Hmm," he said, faking a disappointed expression. "We don't have any openings for cruises or luxury ships going over to Europe for another year."

"A year?" Ginny repeated. She gave Draco a horrified look, but he merely looked bored.

"I'm sorry," Zechariah said with a dramatic sigh, not sounding sorry at all. "Perhaps I can check for airplane tickets?"

"Sure. . . ." Ginny said slowly, not knowing what an airplane was.

"Great," he replied, and returned to his computer. "Well, the next opening we have is tomorrow. Will that do?"

"Yeah," Ginny said. She desperately wished she'd taken more than one year of Muggle studies. What was an airplane? Well, it had the word "air" in it. _Obviously it's some sort of flying transport_, she thought. _I hope_.

"How will you be paying? Cash, credit, or check?" Zechariah asked, smiling falsely at them.

Ginny stared at him for a moment. _What does that mean?_ "Uh, dollars?" she offered stupidly.

"Great," he repeated, and typed something in. "All righty, for two tickets that'll come out three hundred and sixty-two dollars." (A/N: I have no idea how much it really would've cost – let's just pretend it costs that much, okey dokie?)

"Three hundred and sixty-two?" Ginny said.

"Correct."

"We . . . only have eighty-seven," she told him, feeling very foolish. 

Right away Zechariah Montgomery's fake cheerfulness vanished. "That won't even get you across the country," he told them bluntly. 

Ginny glanced at Draco. He didn't look the least bit ruffled. _Why does he act like everything is always all right? How can he be so calm?_ Ginny wondered. 

"Thank you," she mumbled, standing up. 

"Is there anyone you want to call to wire you some more money?" Zechariah asked.

"No," she said, and hurried towards the door. She hoped Draco would follow.

He did. As soon as they burst out onto the sidewalk, Ginny turned to him and said, "Now we have to wait here and be rescued."

"We won't be rescued," Draco said, his lips twisted into a sneer. 

"Yes we will," Ginny told him with more confidence than she had. "Even your dad will have to spend time looking for you or else he'll look bad. And he has a lot of money to spend –"

"How the hell will they figure out where to look first?" Draco demanded, narrowing his eyes at her. "Sure, they might search for us. But do you know how many cities are in the world? It could take years. And if eighty-seven dollars can't get us across the country, then it definitely won't keep us fed for years."

Ginny tried not to panic. "Maybe if we did some magic they'll be able to track us –"

"We can't," Draco said sharply, putting his face close to hers. "I guess you really don't know anything. Wormtail is probably looking everywhere for us. If we do magic, he'll be able to find us. I promise. Death Eaters have ways of tracking people down. What they do is they find out what sort of wands the people they are looking for have, and they have some sort of way of recognizing when that wand does magic. Don't ask me how – they just do. That's why people hiding from them never last very long. Either you go Muggle to try and hide from them, or you just give yourself up."

"Wormtail won't hurt you," Ginny pointed out. 

"Are you telling me you want to die?"

"How do you know he wants to kill me?"

"I know. Believe me – I do," Draco said harshly. 

He pushed past her and started walking again. Ginny nearly had to jog to keep up. "Then we'll get jobs here," she said. She always tried to see the best of situations, even if they were hopeless. "We'll earn money until we have enough to go back to England or someone finds us."

"We're not Muggles, Weasley," Draco said over his shoulder, sounding annoyed with her. "We haven't had one week of Muggle schooling and we're in a totally and completely Muggle city. How are we supposed to get jobs? Not to mention neither of us are even eighteen yet."

Ginny sighed, out of options. "Then what do we do?"

"We can't do anything," he said. "We're stuck here."

Since they were starving, they found something to eat at a place called McDonalds. When they were done, they had eighty dollars left. 

After they were full they just walked around all day. They didn't speak much, because whenever Ginny tried to make conversation Draco would end it quickly or say something smart that would leave her fuming.

It started to get dark again, and they decided to look for another alley to sleep. This time they found a slightly better one – the buildings that surrounded it seemed quiet enough.

They found a box of old clothes and made their beds out of it instead of newspapers. Ginny was beginning to wish she'd kept her robes for a blanket or extra padding.

_Just be thankful that it's not winter_, she told herself.

The hours seemed to drag by. Ginny heard Draco's breathing slow and knew he was asleep. _For someone who's slept in beds his whole life he sure can sleep well on the hard ground_, Ginny thought with a smirk.

She sat up, sighing loudly. There was no way she was falling asleep. First of all, she'd only had one meal the whole day and she was starving. And she was thirsty. Plus her body was aching with exhaustion, but her mind was racing.

_I'll just take a walk_, she thought, standing up and leaving the alley.

They'd picked an alley in the nicer part of town. It was quiet and the street was rather dark. Every now and then a car would pass by but that was it. It was kind of eerie, but soothing at the same time.

Ginny tried to imagine what her family was going through at that moment. She hoped Fred and George would come home so they would keep her parents company. Of course Bill, Charlie, and Percy all had to work. But Fred and George were still trying to set up their joke shop and really didn't have any stable jobs. _Plus they'll cheer Mum and Dad up_, Ginny hoped.

She had barely walked a block when someone grabbed her shoulder. Two things flashed through her mind at that moment. For a second she thought it was Wormtail. Then she wondered if it was maybe Draco. 

Both theories were thrown from her mind as the person spun her around and shoved her against the nearby brick building. In the dark light Ginny could make out rugged features, but she took one whiff of the guy and immediately realized he had to be homeless. She tried not to gag, but it was hard. He was pressed up against her, holding her against the wall.

"Why hello," he said in a raspy voice, and laughed as if he thought something was amusing. "Why are you out walking alone so late at night?"

Ginny didn't answer. Her panic had started to melt into fear. A car passed by, but it didn't stop. Ginny felt too afraid to even call out, but surely they had seen her? _People don't want to get involved_, she thought with dread.

Then she remembered Draco. He was sleeping, though, and she wasn't sure how sound a sleeper he was. Not to mention he was a block away in an alley. _It's worth a try,_ she thought.

She opened her mouth and started to scream, "Malf –"

But the man quickly clamped a disgusting hand over her lips, sealing off her words. She had to close her mouth or else breath in the odor of him. Despite her fear she was close to vomiting.

"Can't have you calling for help," the man rasped, and planted a slobbery kiss on her cheek. She let out a cry, but his hand muffled it.

Ginny started to struggle. No one was going to help her – she had to get free herself. She squirmed to try and reach her wand in her back pocket. Unfortunately, he had her arms pinned by her sides. And she was pressed so far up against the wall even if she could've used her hands they wouldn't have been able to slide behind her and grab the wand. 

_Do something, Ginny!_ she ordered herself, turning her head and trying not to breath in the man's smell. _He's just a homeless guy – you're a witch! You can save yourself._

The thing was Ginny had never _had_ to save herself. She'd always had someone rescue her. Like the time she'd sliced her head on a rock when she was five. Bill had been there and had fixed it up and carried her home. And in first year, when Tom Riddle had been using her to open the Chamber of Secrets. Harry had saved her then.

She tried to jerk her head away, but each time she moved she only gave him more skin to slobber on. For a minute she actually considered forcing herself to throw up on him – maybe then he'd back away enough for her to run.

But she never had the chance.

His grip on her loosened, and his face pulled away from her own. She watched in amazement as someone pulled him away and shoved him so hard that he fell off the curb, falling limp onto the street.

That someone who'd saved her was Draco.

Ron was exhausted. His parents had come to see Dumbledore the night before. He'd been up all night with them, listening to their conversations in the headmaster's office. All he'd found out was there was no way possible to try and find Ginny. They didn't even know where to begin to look.

It was about five in the morning as he made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. He felt sort of guilty, looking forward to his nice warm bed when Ginny could be anywhere at that moment. 

He had reached the hall the portrait hole was when he came across Harry. Turning the corner, he found his best friend down the hall, looking down at the floor.

"Harry?" Ron asked. "What are you doing up?"

Harry looked up and gave him a weak welcoming smile. Then he beckoned Ron to him.

When Ron reached him, he saw what he was looking at. On the ground was some sort of necklace. It was a silver amulet, a bit bigger than a flattened Snitch, on a silver chain. The amulet was covered in small black stones.

A/N: All right, now we're getting somewhere, huh? I wasn't real sure about that deal with Ginny, but I needed some way for Draco to save her. Hope I didn't over-do it. And please keep reviewing . . . I need to know if its good enough to continue! 


	5. Ghost Stories

Disclaimer: All characters and things belong to JK Rowling. Once again, plot belongs to me.

A/N: A little bit of romance this chapter. Not going to say who, but it's probably obvious. God, I really wish I could think of clever chapter names!

Chapter Five 

_Ghost Stories_

"Why did you go off alone?"

Draco glanced at Ginny, who sat with her knees pulled up to her chin. They were back in the alley, sitting side by side with their backs leaning against the wall. From her expression it was obvious she felt stupid.

"I – couldn't sleep," she mumbled. She'd had trouble looking him in the eye and talking clearly.

"Oh, so you just go off alone? Are you _trying_ to get me killed?"

At this, Ginny snapped her head to look at him. Her mouth was slightly open. "What?"

"You have six brothers, Weasley," Draco said. "Neither of them could do very much damage on their own, but when put together, they could beat me to a pulp."

Draco watched her reaction. She blinked several times, then said slowly, "You're afraid of my brothers?"

"No," he snapped defensively. "I'm not _afraid_ of them. But let's face it – if I lost you in this city, they would definitely kill me. And I don't really want to die."

He wasn't telling her the truth, of course. The fact was he felt a little awkward, too. He'd woken up with a feeling that something was wrong. When he'd seen that Ginny was gone, he'd immediately went out to search for her. For the first time ever he'd felt – well, _worry_ for someone. He'd felt panicked for someone else. It wasn't a feeling he was used to – or comfortable with – so he'd covered it up with some stupid lie about her brothers. Draco was not afraid of any of them, even put together. They were harmless Weasleys, as he liked to think of them.

Ginny stretched her legs out in front of her. "They wouldn't kill you," she said. "They hate you as much as they possibly can – loosing me won't add to it. And they haven't killed you yet, have they?"

"I guess we won't have to worry about it because you're all right," he told her sharply.

There was a long silence.

"I'm never going to fall asleep tonight," Ginny moaned.

"You should try. Those circles under your eyes are so dark it looks like someone punched you there."

"Are not," she muttered defensively. Then she sighed. "I must look like a train wreck. I haven't showered in a while and I've worn the same clothes more than twenty-four hours."

She shot him a dark glance, as if she expected him to say something like "Aren't you used to wearing dirty clothes all the time?" Instead, he moved his eyes away and said, "You look fine."

They were quiet again, and when Draco looked back at her, she was gaping at him.

"What?" he asked irritably.

"Nothing." She looked away, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Draco wondered how a Weasley could look so damn beautiful. He'd always thought of them as ugly, tall, freckly, skinny freaks. But Ginny was the exception. "What should we do now?" she asked with forced cheerfulness.

"Light a fire and tell ghost stories," Draco said sarcastically with the same amount of forced happiness.

Ginny stared at him, and then burst out laughing. Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "Am I amusing you?" he demanded severely.

She tried to stop laughing, her dark eyes filling with tears. "You just sounded really funny," she gasped out, starting to control herself. "Very un-Malfoy-ish."

"I'm honored," he said darkly, and stood up quickly. He crossed the alley and sat down, scowling.

"I didn't mean to offend you," she told him. 

"Who says you did?"

"Well, when you huff and walk away, I take it that I offended you," she said. When he looked at her, he saw she was grinning. She really had a great smile. Some of his annoyance faded, then came back again.

_God, I can't believe I'm sitting here actually thinking that Ginny Weasley is beautiful_, he thought, angry with himself. 

"I have a question, Malfoy," Ginny piped up loudly after a brief silence.

"And you expect an answer?" he shot back. _Why is she being so cheerful? She nearly got raped and murdered by some homeless guy and she's acting as if she'd just got named Head Girl._

She ignored him and asked anyway. "Why are you like your father?"

_That_ caught him off guard. He looked at her, and smirked to cover up his surprise. "Like I said, you expect an answer?"

"Oh, come on," she said as if he were her friend and just not telling her who he had a crush on. "Who would I tell?"

"Potter, Granger, your brothers, all the Gryffindors, the whole school, all of England. . . ." Draco rattled, counting them on his fingers. 

"All right, all right," she interrupted. "But I _won't_ tell them. I promise."

"Yeah. And I promise I won't lie anymore."

"Why do you lie anyway?"

"It's better than telling _my_ truth," he said, and immediately regretted it. "Or anyone else's," he added quickly.

Ginny gave him an odd look, obviously not believing his second sentence. "They say that when you tell someone something that's bothering you that you end up feeling a lot better about it."

"Who says that?"

"I don't know . . . 'they'," she said, shrugging.

"'They' are full of crap," he told her.

"Not true," Ginny contradicted. "During first year I felt a lot better after everyone knew what –"

She stopped suddenly.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Weasley, everyone knows what happened that year. If you think you're keeping it a secret, you're wrong."

Ginny looked disturbed for a moment, deep in thought. "I really think you'd feel better if you told me," she finally said softly.

Draco actually started considered it. Why would he want to tell one of his worst enemies (well, a sister of his worst enemy) about his wonderful life? It didn't make sense. But as he stared at her, he began to wonder. She _did_ look like she really wanted to hear what he had to say. Of course, Draco had grown up learning that looks could be deceiving. It was practically his father's number one rule – and he had a lot of rules.

"Do you really want to know?" Draco asked.

"Of course I do," she said gently. "Because I don't think you're like him. _At all_."

"Oh. So you're stuck with me a day and a half and automatically you're the walking Draco Malfoy Encyclopedia?"

"Well, I don't reckon Crabbe and Goyle are. Does _anyone_ take you seriously, Malfoy? I mean, has anyone ever wanted to take the chance to get to know you?"

He stared at her icily, hoping to make her look away or at least look hurt. But she kept staring back at him with her gentle dark eyes, and he felt his own gaze soften.

"Do you know when the last time I cried was?" he asked her sharply, but quietly.

"What?" she said, puzzled.

"I was three," he told her. "Three years old. And I haven't cried since then."

Her expression clearly indicated that she hadn't been expecting that. As he watched her, though, her confusion melted in to something else. Not pity – _thank God, I can't stand anyone's pity_, he thought. It was more like compassion. 

"My father thought crying was a sign of weakness," Draco continued. He kept his eyes bearing right into hers, waiting for her to look away first. She didn't. "And it is."

"Not for little kids," Ginny said softly, but let him go on.

"When I was younger, I wanted to please him," he said, drawing one knee up and resting his arm on it. "It was like . . . my goal in life. Yes, once upon a time I had a goal for my life.

"I used to wonder if maybe Voldemort had still been in power while I was growing up that my dad might've been more easy to live with. Now I know the answer – no, of course not. In fact, he probably would've been harder on me. As soon as I could walk he taught me how to hold and use a sword, saying knowing dueling skills was the most important thing in someone's life. One time he gashed my side so badly I was in bed for days, and it took a highly trained wizard to fix it. 

"My mum was – and still is – hopeless when it comes to those sort of things: cooking, simple medical care, cleaning. She always relied on servants to do that sort of thing. In her defense, though, I'd never seen her look so scared when my father brought me in with that huge cut. I passed out shortly after that, though, so I'm not sure if she actually did something about it or left it up to the butler to call someone to help me."

Draco couldn't believe the words were tumbling out so quickly and easily. As much as he hated to admit it, Ginny had been right. It sort of did help to tell someone about it.

"My father tried teaching me to read when I was three, but of course I was too young. He always called me stupid, and said I'd never learn. The last time I ever cried was when he actually hit me in the head with a book. I had a major concussion and almost died then."

He saw Ginny wince, and felt himself grinning. _You asked for it_, he thought.

"I eventually learned to read when I was about six or seven. That's when he started teaching me Dark Arts. I grew up believing it was what everybody used, that it was the magic that everybody knew. Just before I went to Hogwarts I started to realize it wasn't. Still, I wanted to please my father badly so I kept learning it and didn't complain.

"When I was sent off to Hogwarts, I had strict orders to become friends with Harry Potter. I guess my dad wanted me to gain his trust and invite him over for Christmas sometime so he could kill him. I guess Potter was smarter than either of us anticipated, because he didn't want to become my friend. That probably saved his life. 

"Anyway, my dad got over it eventually. He told me to just make Potter's life a living hell at Hogwarts. Make him believe that no one liked him and maybe then, when the Dark Lord returned (he always believed that Voldemort was coming back and that's the one thing he was right about) he would join the Death Eaters. That's all the Death Eaters really are – people who were depressed and had nowhere else to turn to. That's what my dad wanted to make Potter. Unfortunately – for my dad, I mean – Potter has a lot of people who care about him. I must say he does a good job ignoring me.

"Finally, sometime around fifth year, I just realized no matter what I did I'd never please my father." Draco's eyes had never left Ginny's the whole time he told his story. Her expression remained unreadable. "So I just gave up. I hate him now. Before I'd never really loved him, but he was the only fatherly figure I'd had."

She kept staring, as if waiting for him to continue.

"The end," he finished. "That's it. My story."

"But – but you never said why you think you're like your father," she pointed out. 

"I am," he said. "Trust me. I know exactly how I'm going to turn out."

"You'll only turn out how you want to turn out."

"Sure."

He felt annoyed again. He'd just told her something he'd never told anyone in his life and she wasn't the least bit grateful. That bothered him. So he stood up and strode to the end of the alley. He faced the blank wall, trying to calm down. He wasn't sure why it irritated him so much. It just – _irked_ him.

For a minute, he stood there, glaring at the wall. Then he heard Ginny walk up behind him and stop.

"The one good thing is that I actually have money," Draco snapped, hoping to make her go away.

Only she didn't. She did the exact opposite. He felt her arms slide around his waist, and felt her press herself against his back. She rested her chin on his shoulder, and he could feel her breathing in his ear.

Draco stiffened. _She's hugging me!_ he thought, more shocked than anything else. 

But the warmth of her seemed to sooth him, and he felt himself relax. No one had ever hugged him from behind before – in fact, no one had ever hugged him and actually _held_ him like that before. It was different, but it felt good.

He closed his eyes for a moment, wondering why a Weasley was making him feel so comfortable. It was the first thought he'd ever had about her that wasn't malicious.

Opening his eyes, he turned in her arms so he could see her face. She stared up at him, and offered him a half-smile that actually made Draco's stomach lurch pleasantly.

_Why haven't I ever noticed how gorgeous she is?_ he thought, bringing his hand up to her neck and stroking her jaw and part of her cheek with his thumb. Her golden-red hair felt like silk, despite the fact she hadn't washed it in a while.

He didn't even know why he did it, but he started lowering his face to hers. Her eyes searched his, as if she couldn't believe what he was doing. He couldn't believe it, either. But it felt so right. 

_She'd a Weasley, she's a Weasley, she's no good, this won't ever work_. . . . All those things flashed through his brain, but it all melted into one single thought: _I don't care_.

His lips met her partly open ones, but they didn't exactly kiss. Draco managed to stop himself, his eyes staring at her closed lids. 

"Ginny?" he said softly, his lips so close they brushed against hers as he spoke.

"Hmm?" she murmured dreamily.

"Your brothers will kill me."

Without either of them moving, she opened her eyes, startled. Neither of them moved – they just stared at each other, lips barely touching, for a long time.

Draco was just getting ready to fully kiss her when there was a sharp intake of breath.

He pulled his head away, startled, and looked in the direction of the noise. Standing two yards away was an extremely shocked Potter and an extremely angry Weasley, both holding onto a silver necklace.

A/N: I just want to thank Leela – thanks for reviewing a bunch of times! I need to know if I'm still going okay or if it is going bad. You need to tell me these things, peeps! Don't worry, I can take it (thought of course I'd like compliments more). Please review!


	6. Back to England

Disclaimer: Is this really necessary anymore?

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I only write when I get reviews and I haven't been getting a lot lately. So please, even if you've reviewed before, keep doing it! I need to know if my story's good or not. 

Chapter Six 

_Back to England_

Ginny felt very strange. Draco took a step away from her, but she couldn't make her legs work. She stared at her brother Ron and Harry, her mind not functioning. Her insides, which had felt very warm and fuzzy only seconds before, were now numb. 

_Oh, God_. Her mind suddenly started thinking again. _What did I just do?_

She had nearly kissed Draco Malfoy. She had _wanted _to kiss Draco Malfoy. And even worse than that . . . Ron had seen her. Of all the places in the world, of all the alleys in the city, he'd had to appear at that exact moment in that exact location.

Ron's face was redder than his hair. He was actually shaking he was so mad. Harry was staring from Ginny to Draco as if he couldn't believe what he'd just seen. 

"Gin – Ginny," Ron sputtered furiously, clenching his hands into fists and glaring at Draco. "Wh – what. . . .?"

Ginny didn't know how to answer. But she didn't have to. It suddenly hit her – they were holding an amulet. An amulet exactly like the one she had. Only it was silver with black stones instead of gold with white stones.

Feeling returning very slowly to her body, Ginny realized something. Obviously the amulet had been a Portkey that had Portkeyed them here (A/N: that was a stupid sentence). _They want Harry_, she thought. _Instead they got Draco and me. But now . . . Harry's here. _

"Where _are _we?" Harry said, trying to distract Ron. But Ron wouldn't take his eyes off Draco.

"New York City," Ginny replied tonelessly. "In America."

She stepped up to Ron and gave him a quick, awkward hug. He didn't return it. When she pulled away, she saw he was glaring at _her_ now. The look was enough to make her want to cry.

"We should get going," she said quietly, taking a few steps back from him. 

"Where are we going to go?" Harry asked her. 

"Anywhere but here," she told him weakly.

Ron was still giving her a death look, so she hurried past them and started to lead the way out of the alley. She blinked back tears – _Why had I wanted to kiss him so much? Ron's going to hate me forever._

She had yet to glance at Draco.

_I have more things to worry about then that_, she thought. _Harry's in danger here and I'm worrying about myself. _

Her head was down so low she didn't see the two people blocking the end of the alley until she was nearly right on top of them.

She saw the black shoes and looked up. Two tall people dressed in black robes, hoods shadowing their faces, blocked their escape. It surprised her so much she gasped and took a few stumbling steps backward.

_Death Eaters_, she thought with a sinking stomach. _They didn't just send Wormtail – they sent two Death Eaters._

She backed up so far that she hit someone. It was Harry. He didn't even notice that she had ran into him – he kept squinting at the Death Eaters as if trying to place them.

Ginny's heart pounded frantically. There was no escape this time. They couldn't run – if they did, they'd be dead before they took five steps. She glanced over her shoulder. Draco looked . . . interested. That was the only way to describe his expression. Harry looked a little surprised and maybe even a little frightened.

And Ron –

_Ron!_ she thought, looking around quickly. _Where is he?_

And then she spotted him a few feet away behind her. He was hiding behind a trashcan. She could see a little bit of his red hair sticking up, but if no one had been looking for it they wouldn't have been able to see it in the darkness.

_When did he have time to hide without them seeing him?_ Ginny wondered. But she felt a little more hopeful knowing that Ron had the element of surprise.

"Harry Potter," one of the Death Eaters said in a low, dangerous voice. "Won't you come with us?"

They could've said, _Won't you come and die?_ and the meaning wouldn't have been any different. Harry just continued staring at them, a little amazement that they'd actually asked him what they had.

The two Death Eaters glanced at each other, and Ginny could've sworn they sighed. One of them drew out their wand.

"Step aside, girl," he snapped at Ginny, who still stood in front of him.

She started to step aside, but then at the last moment reached and pulled out her wand. Without hesitating she pointed it at the man with his wand out and shouted as loud as she could, "_STUPEFY!_"

The man slumped wordlessly to the ground. As the other Death Eater shoved a hand into his robes for his wand, Ginny heard Ron stand up behind her and he shouted the exact same word. A moment later, the second Death Eater fell onto the first, their wands rolling out of their hands.

Harry shakily walked over to them and snapped both of their wands in half. He threw the pieces into the trashcan, flashed Ginny a wobbly smile, and asked, "Should we leave now?"

Draco, who normally loved to be alone with Weasley and Potter so he could make fun of them all he wanted, now felt very awkward in their presence. Ron kept shooting him dark glares, but never said anything. Ginny and Harry were the only ones who really spoke.

_Having a Muggle-raised with us is actually coming in handy_, he thought as Ginny and Harry discussed ways to get back to England. _I never thought I'd live to hear myself think that._

_Then again, I never thought I'd live to nearly kiss a Weasley._

"Do you have any money, like Galleons?" Harry asked Draco and Ron.

"Why would I carry Galleons around?" Ron said sourly.

"I do," Draco replied lazily, reaching into his pocket. He brought out a handful of the gold coins and counted them. "I have eleven."

"Good," Harry said, avoiding his eyes as he took the money from him. If Draco had been feeling normal he would've demanded to keep the money for himself, but he wasn't feeling normal. Not at all. 

In fact, he felt crazy. Despite how foolish and embarrassed he had been at being caught nearly kissing Ginny, he couldn't help but remember how much he had wanted to. How much he _still_ wanted to.

_I am definitely losing it_, he thought, shaking his head as if trying to shake all the thoughts of her out.

As soon as it got light, they went out in search of what Harry called a pawnshop. They found one in the cheaper part of the city, and Harry traded their Galleons for Muggle American money.

"Isn't that against the law, Potter?" Draco sneered before Harry went in. "We're not allowed to give Muggles our money."

Harry just grinned knowingly at him. "Didn't you know, Malfoy? To anyone but wizards our money just looks like blank coins. To the guy in there it'll just look like a bunch of real gold coins."

"I guess I don't spend time studying our money and Muggles, do I?" Draco snapped, feeling a bit stupid.

Ten minutes later, Harry came back out with two hundred and fifty dollars.

"That won't get us anywhere!" Draco told Harry sharply. "It costs more than that to fly _two_ people to England. And in case you can't count, there are _four_ of us."

"Well, you have eighty dollars, don't you?" Harry said, glaring at him. "And if we have to, then two of us will go back and tell Dumbledore where we are. Either way, we'll all eventually get back."

Draco was not as confident.

"What do we do now?" Ginny asked Harry. Her voice had lost it's spark and Draco couldn't tell if it was because of what had happened or because she hadn't slept more than five hours in the past two days.

"Now we go to an airport," Harry said. He handed the money to her and stood on the curb, waving his arms and yelling, "Taxi! Taxi!"

Ron, Ginny, and Draco stared at him.

A yellow car pulled up to the curb, and Harry smiled sheepishly. "I saw that in a movie once."

"Movie?" Draco repeated, smirking.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Ron snapped at Draco, sliding into the front seat of the taxi.

Ginny got in the backseat, sliding all the way over. Harry got in next, and Draco last. So he was smashed between the door and Harry. _How wonderful_, he thought, frowning.

"Where to?" the taxi driver demanded.

Ginny and Draco looked at Harry, waiting for him to answer.

"Oh – uh, the nearest airport," he said, looking as if he hoped he'd said it right. The driver nodded and pulled out into traffic.

It was the first time Draco had ever ridden in a car before. He thought it wasn't much more thrilling than a bus ride, only a little smoother. And cramped.

It took a few minutes to get to the airport. Draco immediately didn't like it. He'd only seen the outside, full of people carrying luggage, but he knew it would be crowded. He didn't like being crowded.

They paid the taxi driver and got out. Harry led the way inside, and walked up to one of the baggage check areas. 

"When is the next flight to London?" he asked the lady behind the counter.

She smiled at him. "There are many flights to London . . . I think Midway has about three today."

"Midway?" Harry repeated.

"Yes. Do you not travel Midway? Because this is the line for Midway passengers," the lady said with a sincere smile.

"Um, we'll travel Midway," Harry said. "Are there four seats available on one of those flights today?"

The woman checked the computer. "Yes, there are quite a few seats left on the four-forty PM flight, nonstop to London."

"How much is it?"

The lady's smile wavered, and said, "Four tickets?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed.

"That would be four hundred and thirty-two dollars." (A/N: Once again, I have no idea how much it would cost)

Draco smirked. _I told you, Potter. But you think you know everything, don't you?_

Beside him, Ginny let out a small moan of despair.

"Do – do you have anything a little . . . cheaper?" Harry asked, trying to look casual.

The lady tried smiled sympathetically and returned to the computer. "Round trip tickets are always cheaper," she told him.

"Round trip?"

"Both ways. You know, with a return flight. But I take it you want to stay in London?"

"Yes, we do, but how much would round trip tickets cost?" Harry demanded.

"That would be three hundred and ten dollars and sixty-six cents." (A/N: all I know is round trip tickets really are cheaper, but I don't know how much cheaper)

_What the hell are cents?_ Draco wondered.

"We'll take that," Harry said, a huge grin of relief spreading over his face.

"I'm glad we could work out something," the woman said. "And how will you be paying for this?"

"With money." Harry stared at the lady as if she'd gone mad.

"Of course," she said, laughing. "But with a credit card, or cash?"

"Oh . . . cash," Harry replied.

A few minutes later, Harry was holding their tickets in his hand. They had only five dollars left, but they were so glad to be going home it didn't matter. They found the right gate (with a lot of trouble, not knowing what a gate even was – and Harry was no help, having never been the one to go on a plane before) and had to wait nearly all day for the plane to come. Finally, at about four fifteen, they were allowed to get on.

They had two seats in each row, across the aisle from each other. Ginny ignored the dark looks her brother gave her and sat next to Draco, surprising him. Harry sat in the aisle seat across from her, and Ron in between him and a stranger, who had the window seat.

Ginny didn't speak to Draco until they were up in the air. They were above white clouds, so Draco got bored looking out the window. Beside him, Ginny leaned over the aisle and whispered something to Harry. When she righted herself, Draco looked over and saw she was holding the amulet that had brought him and Ron to New York.

She pulled out the gold one and put them side-by-side, examining them.

"The Brother Amulets," Draco mused.

Ginny glanced at him. "What?"

"The Brother Amulets. I didn't think the dark one really existed," Draco repeated. "My father always talked about them. He said when they were joined together they could unleash enough power to make one man invincible."

Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and pressed the amulets together. "Well, they're joined together. And nothing's happening."

"Just because they exist doesn't mean the story is true," he told her with a shrug. 

"Tell me the story."

"What's with you and stories?"

Ginny smiled a little, and gave Harry the silver amulet back. She draped the gold one around her neck and tucked it under her shirt. "Please?"

Draco sighed and shifted in his seat. "My dad tells me that when the dark and light is joined, they'll unleash power. I always figured by dark and light he meant evil and good. I guess he just meant color wise. But, like you just said, nothing happened when you put them together. So the story is a bunch of bull."

"I have a question for you," she said, turned so she was facing him.

"You and stories and questions," he muttered.

"Can I call you Draco?"

He had not expected that. _Why is it every question she asks me throws me off guard?_

"You can call me whatever you want," he said, staring at her blankly.

She lowered her head, but he could still see her grin.

The flight seemed to take forever. They were served dinner, which Draco and Ginny had a contest to see who could finish it the fastest. Funny how Ginny made eating fast look not so gross, but when Gregory and Vincent did it Draco wanted to vomit.

Finally, they started to land in London. When the tires screeched and bumped onto the ground, Draco felt a lot of weight float off his shoulders. He had survived a Muggle city with a Weasley, and he came out relatively unscarred.

Except for the fact Draco found Ginny incredibly gorgeous and had a never-ending desire to kiss her.

A/N: I want to thank everyone who's reviewed, so put up with me for a little while, okay? Thanks to: Smilee, Lady Deathscythe, Renebre (thanks for analyzing my writing! Hint hint, other peeps!), Piggy, Trinity (awesome name, by the way), Figaro (are you still reading? I haven't seen you review more than once!) Morgan, Burke (I did toy with a little romance, hee hee), 123, Leela (thanx for reviewing so many times!), Zoemma, Cat10 (is this MORE enough for you? J) Jenaque, Rosecloud (Wormtail actually has a lot to do with my story), Valley Girl, Vanessa the Potters Daughter (I'm sure your first fic is fine – I'd love to read it! Email me: [viking@ntwrks.com][1].) Lady Ev (THANK YOU for also reviewing so many times. I forgot to thank you in my last post . . . thanks again!) Caitlin, sOmEoNeSpEcIaL (Don't worry, definitely more romance in upcoming chapters!) Mirror of Erised, Doesntmattter (please don't die, I would feel bad if you did) and Starry Eyed Dreamer (I know there are McDonalds in England, but I figured since they were both raised in total wizarding families that they'd never seen one before. Could be wrong, though J) 

Oh, and this is NOT the end! There is SOOOOO much more! Thanks once more and keep reviewing! 

   [1]: mailto:viking@ntwrks.com



	7. Torn

Disclaimer: You all know who the characters belong to . . . if you don't, then why are you on this site and reading this?

A/N: Remember, my threat remains – if I'm not satisfied with the reviews I get, I'll STOP! *cackles* Seriously, though. I'll finish it, I just won't post it. So Puh-LEEEEZE review. Thank ya to those who do!!!!

Chapter Seven 

_Torn_

As soon as they landed in the London airport, Harry went off to exchange their remaining Muggle American dollars for Muggle British pounds. (A/N: no clue how much five dollars equals in pounds) They got in another taxi and took it as close to Kings Cross station as they could with their money, which got them about fifteen blocks away.

They walked the rest of the way. It was nearly midnight when they got there, and there was barely anyone around. 

"This is ridiculous," Draco announced as they stood in the empty station. "The Hogwarts Express runs twice a year – in September, and in June. There's no way it'll come now."

"It's still September," Ginny pointed out. 

"We can at least see, can't we?" Harry said, and they walked into the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Like the rest of the station, where the Hogwarts Express normally was waiting, it was deserted.

"I guess we'll stay here for the night," Ginny grumbled, dropping onto one of the benches. "Tomorrow we'll be able to ask someone."

Draco, once again, was not sure. They were in a Muggle station – the only thing close to magic was the platform they were standing on. Anyone they could ask wouldn't have a clue what the Hogwarts Express was.

"There are only three benches," Ron said, sounding angry. Draco tried to suppress a grin. He knew that Weasley was still fuming from him nearly kissing his sister. As embarrassing as the entire situation had been, just seeing Ron pissed was enough to almost make it all right.

"They're big," Draco said, half-smirking, half-grinning at him. "Ginny can share one with me."

Draco was not expecting Ron to become physical. So he wasn't prepared when the taller, skinnier boy covered the distance between them and punched him right in the nose. Unfortunately, before he could recover and hit Ron back, Harry came and dragged him away and Ginny pushed herself in front of Draco. He tried to get by her, feeling blood trickle down his upper lip. It made him angry that Weasley had made him bleed, and he hadn't even had a chance to hit him back. Glaring heatedly at Ron, he started to push past Ginny. But she put her hands firmly on his chest and didn't let him get by.

"Draco," she said firmly, "stop it."

Harry held Ron's arm, but Ron still turned to sneer at Draco, "What do you know? It bleeds."

"Shut up, Ron," Ginny snapped without turning her head, pulling her wand out and whispering, "_Fixiledius_." 

Draco felt the blood disappear and the throbbing in his nose vanish. He tore his eyes off of Ron, forcing himself to calm down. _Ginny actually took my side over her brother's_, he thought, but he wasn't surprised. _Of course, he deserves whatever treatment she gives him._

"I'll sleep on the ground," Ginny said loudly, her eyes fixed on Draco's face. "I'm so tired I could sleep on nails."

Draco stared back at her, and she stepped away and broke their gaze. He dropped down on his back on the nearest bench, turning his head away so he wouldn't have to see anything but the back of the seat. The benches were long enough for about three, maybe four, people to sit on and they were wide. But Draco's feet hung off, the edge digging into the backs of his ankles uncomfortably. 

Surprisingly, he fell asleep almost instantly.

Ginny woke up to someone shaking her. She felt as if she'd just fallen asleep. Moaning, she rolled over onto her back and saw that Ron had woken her and that the sun was up.

Her brother actually looked something besides angry for a change.

"Look," he said with a grin, pointing behind her. She sat up and twisted her head around and saw the scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express. She'd never been so happy to see it in her life.

"The conductor said Dumbledore's been making him come every morning, just in case we ever came back," Ron said as he grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her to her feet. 

The train ride to Hogwarts seemed to take a lot longer than it usually did. Ginny fell asleep again, woke up when they got into horseless carriages, and fell asleep again in that short distance.

Out of everything that excited her about being back, the biggest thing was the food.

Three days after getting back, Ginny was starting to get back in the cycle of school. The excitement of her disappearing had died down and her parents had come to visit her. A few teachers were sympathetic and didn't make her do the schoolwork she'd missed. Strict professors like McGonagall and just plain cruel professors like Snape gave her work to make up.

Ginny had to pretend like nothing had happened between her and Draco, but it was hard. Whenever they passed in the hallways, she always stared at him, hoping he would glance back at her. But he didn't – he just walked by, his head held high again, as if he thought he was superior to everyone, and never gave her even one quick look.

She began to wonder if maybe Draco didn't like her. But she had to know for sure. So she wrote him a quick note, telling him to meet her at nine that night near the lake. She dropped it in his bag when she walked by his table at lunch, hoping he would find it.

At eight fifty, she made some lame excuse about going to library. Her friends, who were so wrapped up in Laura's story of how she once got lost in the woods (_like that's as bad as getting Portkeyed to a city you don't know_, Ginny thought angrily), barely heard her.

She had a half an hour to get back without arousing anyone's suspicion. Hoping that Draco had gotten her note, she pushed a tapestry aside and descended a narrow staircase that would take her near the front doors of the school.

That was when she heard footsteps behind her.

In the middle of the stairs, she stopped and spun around. And saw Harry about ten steps above her.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him, relieved that she'd seen him before she'd met Draco.

"Following you," Harry replied smoothly, bouncing down to the step above her. "Ron wanted me to make sure you weren't going to meet Malfoy."

"I was going to the library," she mumbled, turning so he wouldn't see her face blush.

"Sure you were. That's why you were heading in the entirely wrong direction, right?"

"So what if I wanted to get some fresh air?" she snapped, crossing her arms.

"Is 'Fresh Air' your pet name for Malfoy?"

_When did Harry get so sarcastic?_ she wondered furiously, burning even redder.

"Come on, Gin," Harry said suddenly, sounding gentle. "Ron and I have been talking about this and we realize that you're making a big mistake with Malfoy –"

"Ron, huh? Why didn't he come, then?"

"Because." Harry blinked in surprise at the question. "He just didn't want to. I reckon he was afraid of what he would see."

Ginny knew that she was going to be late. She didn't have time to stand there and chat with Harry. She turned to go, but he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Do you know how badly the things Malfoy says to Ron effects him?" Harry demanded lightly. "He doesn't like to show it, but I know he always feels terrible after Malfoy insults him. And most of those things he said should insult _you_, too."

"What is the point of this, Harry?" Ginny asked, getting wary.

"I guess I really don't see what you want in him."

_It's not what I want, it's what I need_, she thought, remembering how miserable she'd felt the past few days not being near him. Instead, she heard herself blurt something much worse, not answering his question. "Isn't it funny how the only way I can get you to notice me is by being interested in Draco Malfoy?"

Harry stared at her, his expression blank, but his green eyes looking amazed. Ginny blushed again and started to turn away once more. And once more Harry grabbed her wrist to prevent her from leaving. She turned to tell him to leave her alone when he placed his hands on the sides of her face and kissed her softly on the lips.

Her heart dipped. The moment she'd been imagining for more than six years was actually happening. _Harry Potter was kissing her_. _Her_. Ginny Weasely.

And it was everything Ginny had expected it to be. It was gentle, with their lips only partly open, and not much tongue. It made her feel very fuzzy inside, and her knees actually felt a little weak. She'd read about weak knees before, but had never experienced it. And now she was.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, and when Harry pulled away he took a step back. "All right, Ginny?" he asked.

His sentence spoiled it all. _He only kissed me because he doesn't want me going off with Draco_, she thought, the warmth evacuating her body and leaving her chilled. _He only did it for Ron, so Ron won't be so mad and angry anymore._

Ginny turned and hurried the rest of the way down the stairs. Harry called her name, but she ignored him. As soon as she reached the bottom, she ran all the way outside and to the lake.

She saw Draco's silver hair before she saw the rest of him. Of course, he was wearing all black, and it was dark. He was standing at the shore of the lake, skipping rocks across the surface.

"You're late," he said without turning around.

"I – ran into a little trouble," she admitted. 

"Hmm." He slowly turned to face her. "So why did you want me to meet you here?"

"To talk," she said slowly, stepping up beside him and fixing her eyes on the lake. Could he tell that she'd just been kissed? _Of course not_, she thought. _That's ridiculous._

"About what?"

"About us."

"There isn't a lot to talk about on that subject," Draco answered breezily.

She felt a little angry and turned on him. "There is, too, and you know it. I _know_ you felt something that night in the alley." _What a cheesy line that was_, she thought, blushing and looking away.

When she had the courage to look at him again, he was half-smirking, half-grinning at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Has anyone told you you're cute when your face is the same color as your hair?"

"No." _And you're the last person I expected to hear it from._

"Then I guess it isn't true," he added, looking back out across the lake.

She fumed. _This is so frustrating!_ she thought angrily. _Why am I even bothering? He obviously isn't interested in me . . . why would he be? Our families hate each other, I'm poorer than he can even imagine, and I'm a year younger than him._

She started back towards the castle and stopped in her tracks when she heard Draco laughing.

"Don't be a baby, Ginny," he said. "Stay here and talk with me some more."

She hesitated. He'd called her Ginny instead of Weasley. That was an accomplishment, wasn't it? And he had invited her to talk with him a little longer. Maybe he wasn't a complete waste of time.

"I take it no one knows you're out here?" Draco said when she stepped wordlessly beside him once again.

"I don't think so," she replied sulkily.

"Quit pouting," he ordered. "You invited me out here."

"Yeah, but I didn't know you were going to be such an egotistical bastard!" she shouted.

"Oh, so you _do_ swear," Draco said, grinning at her. _How can he make a grin look so much like a smirk?_ "Besides, I haven't said anything egotistical. The correct term would be _annoying bastard_. Or _handsome bastard_. Or _perfect-in-every-way bastard _–"

"Like I said, egotistical . . . bastard," she repeated, mumbling the last word. She didn't like swearing very much.

"You're just upset because Slytherins have all the charm," Draco said, his expression blank.

"Oh yeah, I find Crabbe and Goyle very sexy," Ginny said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

"Do you now? They would be very interested in hearing that. . . ."

She spun and pointed her finger in his face. "If you dare tell them –" she started to fume.

He grabbed the hand that she was pointing with, meaning to shove it away. Instead, he lowered it and held on to it. "Don't worry," he said, smirking. "Your secret is safe with me."

Ginny's anger faded, looking down at their joined hands. Her expression softened, and she raised her eyes to meet Draco's. 

"You know I was just kidding," she said faintly.

"I guess you'll have to prove it," he replied with an unreadable face.

"How?" For some reason, she lowered her voice to a whisper.

Even though they were standing a bit apart, he still leaned over and kissed her. For a moment, Ginny thought, _I've been kissed by two different boys in less than an hour_.

But then all thoughts faded from her mind. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Draco's kiss was different than Harry's – he wasn't as gentle. His was hungrier, as if he wanted as much as he could get. Surprisingly, Ginny didn't feel overwhelmed or suffocated as she sometimes did when guy's kissed her hard. It felt right, as if being pressed against Draco's body and kissing him was something she'd been born to do. 

They kissed for what seemed like hours. Ginny was surprised that when they pulled apart the sun hadn't come up yet. She didn't want to stop kissing Draco – her lips felt cold without his . . . but he only moved to kiss her cheek, and then her neck. She closed her eyes, savoring all the wonderful feelings that were going through her.

Draco finally moved his head up to look her in the eyes. She was surprised at his expression . . . she'd never seen him looking so gentle before. Just the way looked sent pleasant shivers up her spine.

But then he glanced beyond her, and his expression turned hard and cold. She studied him for a bit, then realized something – or someone – was behind her.

She turned, and saw someone standing about ten yards behind her. The person had silver hair identical to Draco's.

"Father," Draco said icily.

A/N: Hee hee, nice place to stop, huh? I might just stop for tonight . . . though it's only about eleven thirty PM. I don't think I'll have much time to write in a few days, because my cousin is coming and I won't be able to get much time on the computer without him reading over my shoulder! :( But don't worry, I'll try to get as much out as I can. All right, thank you time! The list won't be as long this time. Thank you to: Lady Ev (thanx 4 reviewin' so much), Jenaque, me (please review some more!), w&m_law, Ni ( **_I_** care that you put it in your favorites – it makes me feel good about my story!), doesn'tmattter, and Leela (don't worry, I'll try to make this as long as I can. If it isn't long enough, I'll probably write a sequel – I have a pretty good idea for one, too.)

This isn't the end either, obviously. REVIEW, YOU EVIL ONES WHO DON'T! _Just_ kidding, of course. Toodles!


	8. Truth Potion

Disclaimer: All belong to JK Rowling: plot mine. This is the last time I'm saying it.

A/N: OKAY!!!!! I'm sorry, I LIED!!! It's the same night I put out chapter seven and now I'm writing this. I'm addicted, what can I say? It's kind of like a drug . . . once I had a little of it, I NEED MORE! Okay, I guess I'm just slightly hyper right now. I'll try to calm down or else my parents will wake up ;). Okey dokie, down to business. . . . (has this chapter name been used in HP books? It's late . . . my mind isn't working and I'm too lazy to go and look! I strongly doubt it, but sorry if it has been used before)

Chapter Eight Truth Potion 

Draco instinctively stepped around Ginny, shielding her from his father. His father was the last person he'd expected to see . . . hell, if _Snape_ had seen them, it would've been better. Right then he was feeling very . . . well, stupid. He hoped his expression remained hard and didn't show his feelings. If there was one thing he was good at, it was disguising what he was really thinking.

"Draco," Lucius Malfoy said, smiling tightly. 

"What are you doing here?" Draco snapped. _You can't Apparate or Disapparate on Hogwarts grounds_, he thought. _And that's the only way my father ever travels._

"I came by Floo powder," his father replied quickly, as if in a hurry to say something else. "Your mother insisted I come to see if you were all right."

"I'm fine."

"Apparently," Lucius said, stepping closer and looking around him at Ginny. Draco had a strong urge to move with him, blocking his view. But he kept still. "Why are you cowering, girl?" his father snapped at her.

Ginny slowly stepped beside Draco. "I'm not." Draco had to give her one thing – she was brave. Any other girl he knew would've been sobbing at being snapped at by someone so powerful. But then again, all the girls he knew practically worshipped the ground any Malfoy walked on. Ginny wasn't like most girls. 

"I've already spoken with Dumbledore," Lucius continued, ignoring Ginny. "The fool agreed, though rather reluctantly, for you to come home for a few days."

"I'm all right," Draco repeated. "I don't need to go home. I'll only get further behind in my schoolwork."

"It's all taken care of," Lucius said confidently. "Of course, your . . .friend could come, if she wanted to."

Draco didn't glance at Ginny, but she stepped closer to him and he felt her shoulder press against his. _Father knows very well she's a Weasley_, Draco thought, trying to read his father's expression. Unfortunately, Lucius Malfoy was just as good as hiding his emotions as his son. _He would rather eat himself for dinner than let one in his house. He would only kill her._

"We'll both stay here, thanks," Ginny said sharply.

Lucius gave her an amused look. Before even Draco could comprehend what he was doing, he had pulled out his wand and said almost lazily, "_Stupefy_." Ginny slumped onto her back to the ground, her wavy red-gold hair covering her face. Draco stared at her for a moment, feeling numb momentarily. When he looked up, his father was covering the distance between them. Draco had a very strong urge to hit his father in the head and wipe off his smug look. 

Instead, he just glowered at him. Lucius gave him a smirk. He grabbed his son's arm and reached into his own pocket. Draco suddenly felt a tugging around his naval.

An instant later he was standing in a very familiar room. _My father's study_, he thought as Lucius released his arm. 

His dad pulled out the marble he'd used to Portkey them there and threw it aside. 

"I told you I didn't want to come," Draco said through clenched teeth. He pictured Ginny, still unconscious, on the ground back at Hogwarts. When she woke up, what would she do? Would she think he'd left her on purpose? 

_Why do I even care_? he wondered, and turned his thoughts to what was happening right then. 

His father had walked over to his desk and sat down in his chair. He gestured to the chair in front of the desk, indicating that Draco should sit down. Draco didn't move.

"You can go back," Lucius told him calmly, sitting up perfectly straight in the chair with his hands folded on the desk top. "I just want to ask you a few questions."

Draco nearly sighed out loud. When his father wanted to ask him questions that only meant one thing: Truth Potion.

He'd started using Truth Potions on Draco back during fifth year, when he'd stopped willingly giving information about Potter. Sometimes he managed to get really good information from him . . . information Draco felt bad about giving. But it wasn't his fault he knew so much . . . it wasn't his fault his father used the Truth Potion on him. Why should he feel bad?

Draco dropped heavily into the chair across from his father. Lucius smiled wickedly, the way he always did when he got his way (which was pretty much all the time). 

"Are you going to answer me willingly?"

"You know the answer to that question," Draco said coldly. His eyes never left his father's – Lucius taught him that eye contact was the one thing that made the difference between a boy and a man. 

Draco heard the office doors open behind him, but didn't turn. Lucius broke their gaze first when one of their servants brought in a goblet – the goblet that contained the Truth Potion. Draco, who never looked away from his father's face, wondered if maybe the servant had been listening outside the door, waiting for his cue.

Lucius dismissed the servant before handing the goblet to Draco. Reluctantly, Draco took it but just stared down at it.

"Are you going to drink it or make friends with it?" Lucius demanded.

Draco obviously must've not been able to cover his thoughts very well, because his father instantly answered the question that was on his mind: _Where did _that_ come from?_

"You can make friends with Weasleys," Lucius said. "I figured if you can do that, you could probably make friends with rocks, too."

Draco just glared.

"Well, am I going to have to shove it down your throat or will you take it willingly? Either way is fine with me." 

Draco tried not to sigh. He'd had it shoved down his throat before – _that_ had not been the most pleasant moment of his life. No matter what, he would eventually drink it. Might as well do it the easy way. 

Truth Potion had no odor and no taste. Draco tried to take the smallest sip he could manage, but quantity didn't matter. One drop was just as powerful as twenty gallons.

Lucius pulled out his wand and pointed it Draco. "_Ennervate_," he said.

Draco felt normal. But he'd found out – the hard way – that it only started to hurt when he didn't answer the question.

"Who cares for Harry Potter?" Lucius asked.

Draco felt a bit surprised. Normally his father started by asking him stupid questions, like "Have you ever danced naked in your room before?" or "Have you ever had impure thoughts about your mother?" Typical fun for Lucius Malfoy. But this time was different – he just launched right into the main thing he wanted.

"Dumbledore, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Cho Chang –" (Harry had dated Cho Chang for a year before she'd graduated Hogwarts and broke up with him) "Sirius Black, Remus Lupin –"

"Does Ginny Weasley care for him?"

Draco was used to be interrupted – his father often thought of better questions before he could finish answering one completely. "Yes." _That's obvious_, Draco thought. _Everyone knew Ginny had a major crush on him for most of her life._

"And does Potter care for her?"

It was clear that Harry cared for Ginny, but probably more like a sister than anything else. For some reason, Draco had a very bad feeling about that question. He didn't want to answer it. For a moment, he kept his mouth shut. But he started to feel a dull ache somewhere around his heart. After a few more seconds, the ache turned into a pain. Soon it was too painful to bear, and he gritted out, "Yes."

Lucius paused, thinking of another question. "Do you care for Hermione Granger?"

"No." That was very easy.

"Ron Weasley?"

"No." And he knew exactly what was coming next.

Lucius smirked and asked, "Do you care for Ginny Weasley?"

Okay, this was most certainly a question he didn't want to answer. He would fight this one even it killed him. The pain grew and grew and it felt as if his chest was going to be ripped open. He bit down on his lip so hard he tasted blood. _I don't care if I die, I'm not going to answer. I won't, I won't, I just _won't. . . His father watched, amused, as he tried to fight it.

And still, even though Draco wanted to die rather than answer, the potion made him reply. 

"_Yes_."

_No one's ever died from a Truth Potion_, he thought. _They're not made that way . . . they're made to force the person to answer the truth._

"Very well," Lucius said, looking pleased. "_Rivonatory_."

The Truth Spell was now useless. Draco could lie all he wanted now. But it was too late . . . he'd just admitted one thing he wouldn't have ever wanted to admit, not even to Ginny herself.

"Haven't I told you many times, Draco," Lucius said in a dangerously low voice, "that having feelings for someone only makes you weak?"

Draco kept his expression cold as he stood up. "I'm going back now. With or without your help."

"That'll take you back," Lucius said, waving a hand dismissively at another marble on the corner of his desk.

Draco wasn't very sure if his father was telling him the truth, but right then he figured being Portkeyed to a nest of hungry, angry dragons would be better than staying with Lucius. He grabbed the marble, and his father's study melted away. It remolded into the Hogwarts grounds, right where he'd been standing when he'd left. 

Ginny was still unconscious on the ground.

A/N: Still not the end, of course. I might be able to finish this before my cousin comes *looks hopeful* Anywho, thank yous (why does this list keep getting shorter? You peeps still need to review – yes, I mean YOU!) Thanx to: Leela (I'm not trying to kill you . . . just trying to keep you interested!) AlienChick (thanx for long reviews – love them!) Lady Ev (Lucius didn't get THAT mad, but he does have something up his sleeve) and sOmEoNeSpEcIaL (Harry deserved it! . . . I think *looks confused*). 

Sorry this chapter is kinda short. I want to write LONG chapters but I just can't seem to do it! Well, better to have short chapters that come out more often than long chapters that don't, right? I guess . . . whatever . . . okay, I'll shut up now. 

Okay, maybe I won't shut up yet. One more thing: Should I write more tonight? It's one thirty! Argghhhh!!!! I'm not tired at all! Oh well. Review!


	9. Lost Sister

Disclaimer: check previous chapters.

A/N: Am I the only one having trouble getting on fanfiction.net? Probably . . . *sighs* It's really frustrating . . . I might not be able to post this until tomorrow. Well, here's chapter nine.

Chapter Nine 

_Lost Sister_

The next night, Ginny lay awake in her bed, thinking. She could hear Sarah snoring loudly and Laura talking incoherently in her sleep across the room, but that wasn't what was keeping her up. It was the fact that Draco wouldn't tell her what had happened.

As soon as she'd woken up from being stunned, Draco had been there. His expression had been blank but from the edge to his voice he sounded a little angry. She asked him what had happened, and he told her his father had stunned her.

"I know that," she'd said. "But after that?"

"I told him to leave and he did," Draco said, obviously lying. "I waited until you woke up."

He must've waited a long time, because when she returned to the dormitory, it was nearly eleven o'clock. Ginny didn't buy his story at all. What had really happened? 

_I'll probably never find out_, Ginny thought with a sigh, rolling over onto her side. 

The whole day she'd been trying to think of excuses so she could go and be alone with Draco. But Ron seemed to have suspected something and he never left her side. It was really annoying, because wherever Ron was Harry was. Harry barely even spoke to her, avoiding eye contact. Ginny wondered if he'd told her brother what had happened.

And it didn't help that Draco wasn't making any attempt to get with her. Could she have read him wrong?

_He kissed me_, she thought stubbornly. _I reckon he was even trying to protect me from his father by standing in front of me. How else would he think I'd interpret that? Either he's sending the wrong signals or I'm just being paranoid._

Ginny sighed again, wondering if she'd ever be able to go off alone ever again. Even when she wanted to go to the bathroom Ron made Hermione go with her. Hermione, who obviously knew what was going on, looked at Ginny with pity but always obeyed Ron.

She closed her eyes, hoping to make her brain shut down and fall asleep. Only a few minutes passed when she opened them suddenly after hearing a thump. She sat up and listened, staring at the closed curtains around her bed. Had Rachel fallen out of bed again? In the silence that followed she dismissed that idea, because Rachel normally woke up, swearing loudly, when she hit the ground. 

_You just imagined it, Ginny_, she told herself, reluctantly lying back down. 

But she heard another sound. It sounded like the swishing of someone's close. Her eyes wide open, she was too afraid to even sit up again. _Someone's in here_, she thought. _Someone who doesn't belong._

She knew it wasn't Melanie, because she never woke up once she fell asleep. It took a lot just to get her up in the morning. And it wasn't Rachel, because Rachel didn't wear a lot to sleep and her clothes wouldn't have made that sort of swoosh. Laura was still murmuring in her sleep, and Sarah was still snoring away.

It was someone else.

Ginny waited, so tense she felt like a block of ice, and listened for another noise. The next sound she heard wasn't so subtle – and she saw what was happening along with the racket. Someone threw open a curtain on one side of her bed. 

She jumped into a sitting position, letting out a little shriek. Because of all the clamor she made, she didn't hear the person whisper something. She didn't see a wand pointed at her, but before everything went dark she caught a glimpse of silver hair.

The next morning was a Saturday, but Draco got dressed and went down to breakfast early, hoping to be finished eating by the time Gregory and Vincent got there. 

But for some reason, they were already waiting for him and he was forced to sit with them. Draco hurried up to eat and leave, but even before he was halfway through his meal Pansy planted herself in the chair beside him and gushed over how brave he was to have been all alone in America.

He wasn't alone, but reminding Pansy that he'd been with Ginny was not something he had in mind to do. 

_Speaking of Ginny_ . . . Draco thought then, glancing over at the Gryffindor table. She wasn't there, but neither were her brother and Potter. Draco assumed they hadn't come down yet.

Draco had decided he needed to talk with Ginny, so he put up with Pansy and remained at the table for nearly twenty minutes after he'd finished his breakfast. He was about to just get up and leave when Ron, Harry, and Hermione walked into the Great Hall.

Ginny wasn't with them.

_Maybe she's just not hungry_, Draco figured with a frown. But even from across the hall he could see that Ron was looking a little worried. And Draco knew that Ginny always had breakfast – she'd told him so when she'd been complaining in New York about how hungry she was and how she hated missing a meal. 

He felt a flicker of uneasiness in his stomach. Trying to tell himself that Ginny probably just had a fight with Ron and wanted to wait until after they left to come and eat, he remained at the table for a bit longer.

But Ginny never came.

And she wasn't at lunch, either.

That's when Draco knew something was wrong. He didn't even bother explaining himself when he abruptly stood up and walked to the Gryffindor table, right while Pansy was trying to tell him something.

He was aware that nearly every Gryffindor was glaring at him, but he didn't really care. He was used to it. Fixing his eyes on Ron, he stepped between Harry and Hermione (who sat across from him) and demanded, "Where is she?"

"We thought _you_ knew," Hermione told him.

Draco smirked. "Lost your sister, have you?" he said to Ron.

"I didn't lose her," Ron snarled. "Someone stole her."

That made Draco stop smiling. Not because Ron had accused him, but because he was probably right. _Someone _did_ steal her_, he thought. He very much wanted to smack himself in the head, but that would only give the Gryffindors some real material to tease him with.

Draco turned and strode out of the Great Hall. _Someone stole her . . . of course, I should've known. Father asked me those questions for a reason. And I didn't do anything . . . I should've warned her, or put some sort of protection charm on her. . . ._

He tried to think. His father had apparently taken Ginny. Draco didn't know the _whole_ reason why, but it was obvious he did it. _Where would he take Ginny?_ he wondered.

There were a million places he could've taken her. But most places would be too public . . . or too close to the public. And that's when it dawned on him. They owned a summerhouse that was nearly twenty miles away from the nearest house. The nearest village was almost fifty miles away. 

Draco had gone there every summer up until the summer before fourth year. He wasn't sure of the real reason why he stopped going, but he had a hunch that it was _the_ meeting house for Voldemort and the Death Eaters. 

_That's where he took her_, Draco thought.

"Hey – Malfoy!" someone called behind him.

Draco recognized the voice. It was Potter. He kept walking, not wanting at all to speak with him.

Harry had to run to catch up with him, since Draco was walking so fast. But he did, and grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. Draco spun around, throwing his hand off.

"Don't touch me, Potter," he said viciously.

"Sorry," Harry replied, not sounding sorry at all. "But you know where Ginny is, don't you?"

"Don't speak to me, either," Draco added, and started to walk away.

"You do," Harry said, practically jogging to keep up. He was seriously beginning to annoy Draco. "You know exactly where she is. Did she spend the night with you?"

At this, Draco had to stop walking. He whirled to face Harry, who took a step back as if expecting the other boy to lunge at him.

"No," he spat. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"So how do you know where she is?"

"I never said I did!"

"But it's obvious you do, so why don't you just tell me?" 

His calmness only infuriated Draco more. He forced himself to relax, forced himself not to rip Harry's glasses off and shove them down his throat. "And what could you do?"

"Do? If you tell me where she is, all I'll _do_ is go get her."

Draco sneered. "Yeah, I'm sure you would. I'm sure you'd love to be the one to rescue her, O Brave Potter?"

"Rescue?" Harry repeated. "Why would she need rescuing? Is she in danger?"

"Well . . . yes, yes I reckon she would be," Draco replied. 

"Where is she, Malfoy?" Harry asked again, this time with more anger. "If she's in trouble then you need to tell someone, even if it isn't me, where she is."

Draco stared at Harry for a moment. _Easy for you to say_, he thought. _You don't have a father who would pull out your intestines while you watched if you ever gave away Voldemort's hiding place._

"I don't need to do anything," he finally said, and started walking again.

"So what, are you just going to forget about her?" Harry pursued, following. When Draco didn't reply, he continued. "Oh, wait, I forgot. For a second there I totally forgot that you were so wrapped up in yourself that you would never even help another human being, even if it meant saving their lives. Even if it meant that you wouldn't have to do anything but say a few words and then sit on your ass all day and not worry about it ever again."

Draco nearly laughed – he'd never heard Harry swear before, either. Instead, he just simply said over his shoulder, "I'm going to get her, you great prat. So quit your yapping and leave me alone."

"Then I'm coming with you."

Draco stopped walking again so he could see if Harry was serious. "You are, are you?"

"You can't stop me from following you," Harry said, a tad bit smugly.

"You can do whatever you want," Draco answered. "I'm just telling you one thing – I'm not in it so I can be proclaimed a hero."

"Neither am I."

Draco smirked. "Sure you aren't."

"I'm not. Are we just going to stand here all day or are we actually going to do something?"

He studied Harry for a moment. Before he could stop himself, he said, "Meet me at the lake in a half hour. Bring your broomstick."

As Draco walked away for the final time, he couldn't help but feel that he'd made a huge mistake.

Ginny woke up cold. As soon as her eyes opened, everything that had happened came rushing back to her, jolting her even more awake. She sat up quickly and looked at her surroundings.

She was in an empty stone room. It wasn't exactly a dungeon, because there was one thick wooden door in the corner that obviously led out. It looked impossible to break open. Underneath her was some straw, but she could feel the coldness of the floor seeping through it.

Slowly, she stood up. She was wearing pajamas that had a top and a bottom that had been Ron's when he was about seven (and had belonged to Fred before him, and Charlie before him). Since Ginny had a really small waist, it fit her fine there, but the shorts came up way too high. The top fit nearly perfectly except around her chest, and it was short sleeved. Plus she had no socks or shoes on. Every inch of her was covered in goose bumps.

Patting herself, she found that she didn't have her wand. _Of course_, she thought, feeling slightly stupid. _They wouldn't leave me with my wand._

Not to mention she always put it on her bedside table when she went to bed. They would've been idiots to take it with them. _Whoever "them" is_, she contemplated. 

The only thing she had besides her pajamas (and underwear) was the gold amulet that was tucked under her shirt. Like it would do any good, especially when the silver one was still with Harry. Or at least she assumed it was.

Ginny crossed her arms tightly and paced on the straw, trying to get warm. Despite the cold, dark stones the room was made of it was clean. It was the sort of place you'd expect water to be dripping down the walls and rats to be coming in and out of holes in the wall. But everything was dry and relatively spotless.

_What am I doing here?_ she wondered, remembering the flash of silver hair she'd seen before she'd blacked out. She refused to believe that it was Draco, and that only left one person. Well, two people, actually, but Fluer Delacour was out of the question. _Lucius Malfoy. What would he want with me?_

Of course, he had seen her kissing his son. But honestly, did he want to kidnap her for that reason alone? 

_He is an evil person_, she reasoned. 

Ginny stopped pacing when she heard a noise. The door was opening. She looked at it, feeling as if her stomach had dropped to her feet.

About five hooded people walked into the room. Following them was Lucius, who was wearing dark robes but with the hood down. And Lucius was beside another hooded person.

But this hooded person was different. She was aware that Lucius was smiling evilly at her, but she kept her eyes on the man beside him. A wave of coldness swept through her, as if someone had just dipped her in a large vat of ice water.

The person lowered their hood to reveal a face that didn't belong to a man. In fact, it didn't belong to any creature. Red eyes, slits for a nose, yellowish skin. . . .

Ginny felt herself go numb.

She was standing less than five yards from Lord Voldemort. 

A/N: I need to go off and write chapter ten, so no thank yous right now! But please review anyways! Thanx! 


	10. Betrayed

Disclaimer: Always the same and you know it.

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up. Oh well, here's chapter ten.

Chapter Ten 

_Betrayed_

"Oh no. The Mudblood and Weasley stay here."

Draco stood in front of Ron, Harry, and Hermione, and for once hoped he looked like he was feeling – angry and irritated. He should've known Potter would spill the beans to his friends.

"Listen, Malfoy, she's my sister," Ron said furiously. "I'm coming no matter what."

"Mm-hmm," Draco said, and looked at Hermione. "And what pathetic excuse do you have?"

Hermione put her hands on her hips and opened her mouth to say something, but Harry cut her off. "Look, Malfoy, we're all coming. So get over it. There's no way we're trusting _you_ to get her alone."

"Fine," Draco snapped. _But if you get killed it isn't my fault_, he added to himself. Then he noticed something. There were only two brooms, and four people. "I hope you three can fit on one broom."

"One of us is going to have to ride with you," Harry said firmly. 

"I'll ride with Harry," Ron said instantly.

Draco smirked at Hermione's expression – she looked scared enough to whimper.

Seeing Hermione's distress, Harry said almost angrily, "I'll ride with Malfoy. You two can have my broom and the cloak."

"Cloak? So they won't get cold?" Draco sneered.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak," Hermione said matter-of-factly, as if expecting him to be impressed.

And he nearly was. "How did you get your hands on an Invisibility Cloak, Potter?"

"It was my dad's," Harry said quickly, obviously not wanting to talk about it. "I brought it just in case. So how far is the place where Ginny is?"

"It's in Wales," Draco replied, mounting his broom. "About a day's flight from here."

"A day?" Hermione repeated. "We'll get there in the middle of the night!"

"Scared of the dark, Granger?" Draco said.

"No." She stared darkly at him for a moment, then got on the broom behind Ron. 

Draco was not looking forward to sharing a broom with Harry. Fortunately, the Firebolt Draco had gotten during fifth year was long enough for Harry to sit far back and hold onto the handle. They didn't touch, for which Draco was grateful.

Hermione and Ron, on the other hand, looked a little cozy. As soon as they flew off the ground, Hermione was squeezing herself awfully close to him and muttering, "I hate flying . . . oh, God, I really don't like flying. . . ."

Draco was about to pick on her when Ron demanded, "How do you know where Ginny is, Malfoy?"

"I have ways," Draco answered in what he hoped was a mysterious tone. 

Ron scowled. "You are so full of it. I bet you took her there yourself."

"Then why would I be showing you where it is?" Draco shot back.

"I'm not even sure if you're going to take us to the right place," Ron replied. "For all we know you could just take us to the middle of nowhere and kill us."

"That's exactly what I'm going to do Weasley. How ever did you guess?" Draco asked.

"Ron, put the Invisibility Cloak over you and Hermione," Harry said wearily, trying to stop their arguing. 

Hermione managed to unlatch herself from Ron long enough to drape the Invisibility Cloak over them, and to Draco's relief they both disappeared. Everyone was quiet after that.

Ginny felt as if she was falling down very fast, but she didn't move. She wanted to tear her eyes from Voldemort, but she couldn't make any muscles work. She felt as if she'd been frozen into a statue.

_What does Voldemort want with me?_ she wondered frantically. The only reason she could come up with was that she was a friend of Harry's. But really . . . Harry didn't care that much for her. There were a lot of other people, like Ron and Hermione and Sirius, that he cared for more. _So if he's hoping to lure Harry here, he's got it all mixed up. And even if Harry _did_ want to save me, he wouldn't be stupid enough to come alone. He'd tell someone. Not to mention he has no idea where I am._

"Hello, Ginny," Lucius said.

The shock of hearing her name made her eyes start to work again, and she looked at him in surprise. He chuckled humorlessly at her.

"Surprised?" _Of course I am._ "Would you like me to explain?"

_Yes_, she thought as she shook her head.

"I will tell you anyway," Lucius said. "First of all, maybe you should show some manners to Lord Voldemort?"

Ginny turned her eyes on Voldemort once more, but said nothing. _Did this man really once look like Tom Riddle?_ she wondered. Tom Riddle had been one of the most attractive people she'd ever seen. How could his looks have gotten so messed up?

Lucius pointed his wand at her and hissed, "_Imperio_."

All at once, all of Ginny's problems melted away. She was in a state of pure bliss, and barely heard herself say, "Hello, my Lord Voldemort." But then, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone, and she felt the weight of dread in her stomach. She wanted to retch, having just said _my Lord Voldemort_. Yet she managed to keep a straight face and only staggered a step backwards.

"Why me?" she whispered. She didn't think she'd said it out loud until Lucius chuckled at her again, and Voldemort sneered.

"Because you're the only one," Lucius replied.

_The only one what?_ Ginny wondered. _What am I the only one of?_

"You will bring us Potter," Lucius added softly.

"No I won't," Ginny blurted. "He doesn't even know where I am."

"But he will," Voldemort said quietly, his voice giving Ginny the feeling that someone was trickling cold water down her spine. "Once young Malfoy passes on the information. . . ."

Ginny blinked. _Draco? Draco wouldn't be in on this. Unless . . . unless everything he's ever said to me was just an act._

_Then he's one damned good actor._

Her mind whirled as she tried to think of reasons why Draco wouldn't do this to her. All she could come up with was that he'd kissed her. That wasn't a very good reason . . . people kissed other people all the time and it doesn't mean they loved them so much they would die for them.

_But practically send them to be killed?_

She watched as Lucius and Voldemort turned and left the room. The hooded men followed them, shutting the door firmly behind them. Ginny collapsed against the wall, sliding to the ground. They hadn't explained much . . . but she knew all she needed to know.

It was either her life or both Harry's and hers. If Voldemort had been telling the truth, that Draco would actually lure Harry to his death, then it was all over. 

Ginny realized that if their roles had been switched around, and Harry had been sitting there instead of her, then he would probably be wishing that she wouldn't come. He'd be praying that he would die instead of her.

But Ginny knew she wasn't that brave. She didn't want Harry to die . . . of course not, she despereately wished he wouldn't come, either. She hoped that Harry had done the right thing after Draco told him where she was and tell Dumbledore or someone else. _Of course he will_, Ginny tried to assure herself. _He's not stupid . . . he wouldn't come without telling anyone where he was. That would be suicide._

Ginny knew right then and there that she wouldn't be leaving wherever she was alive. Even if Harry came, Voldemort would kill her, too. At that moment, she had never wanted anything more than to crawl in her mother's lap and just cry. She raised her knees up to her chin and tried to fight tears. _Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry . . ._ she thought. Only a few tears escaped, and she wiped them away hurriedly.

Then she lay down on the hay and curled up in a ball, shutting her eyes tightly to seal off any other tears.

Determination kept Draco wide awake. While Ron complained constantly about being tired and about to pitch forward asleep, and Hermione slept with her cheek against the back of his shoulder, and Harry nodded off behind Draco, sometimes falling forward onto Draco's back before jerking upright again, Draco remained alert. 

Night came and passed. By the time it was fully light Ron had moved on to complain about how hungry he was. Draco gritted his teeth and tried to block his voice out, but it was no use. 

By the time the sun was fully in the sky, Draco announced they were nearly there. Hermione roused slowly, and Harry took of his glasses to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Soon they were flying over a thick forest.

As soon as the Malfoy's huge summer home came into view, Harry asked, "You have a summerhouse in the middle of the woods?"

_We're not a normal family_, Draco thought but didn't comment.

"This isn't a summer place – this is a castle," Ron muttered as they landed on the ground. 

Draco was very stiff from being in the same potion for nearly twenty-four hours straight. As soon as his feet touched ground, he felt tired himself and his stomach felt empty. 

"You sure she's here?" Hermione asked, yawning widely and stretching her arms above her head.

"No, I'm not sure. I just flew nearly a day for the hell of it," Draco retorted.

"I was only asking," Hermione said, glowering.

"Then let's go get her," Ron said, approaching the front door.

Draco grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from opening it. "Hold on, Weasley. Didn't your mother ever teach you not to open an unknown door before?"

Ron stared at him.

"My father is very famous for his hexes," Draco said with a smirk, releasing his shoulder. "He reckons it's funny to put them on every door that leads into house. The front door has over twenty hexes. Anyone who's not a Malfoy will feel the wrath of them."

"What kind of hexes?" Hermione asked timidly, as if trying not to give away how interested she was. 

"Just about all the ones that cause you to lost a limb or an organ," Draco told her casually with a shrug. "There's a side door over this way – it only has about eight or nine hexes, I believe."

Draco picked up his broom and started to walk around the house. "Only eight or nine?" Ron repeated, right behind him. "_Only_?"

"Remember, the front door has over twenty," Draco said without looking at him. 

"I take it you know how to disable these hexes?" Harry said.

"If not Hermione can," Ron added.

"I can disable them," Draco snapped, stopping in front of a rather small wooden door. He twisted the knob and pushed the door open. Smirking, he said, "All the doors are unlocked. My father likes to check the doorways every morning to see if he can find any severed people."

"You're father is a sick person," Hermione informed him.

"Like father, like son," Ron spat venomously.

Draco didn't comment, but set to work on the hexes. "This might take a little while," he said over his shoulder.

It did take a long time. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat a few feet away, talking quietly. After about an hour, Ron had fallen asleep with his head in Hermione's lap, and Hermione was drifting off with her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry was amusing himself by lazily turning strands of her hair various shades of purple.

"All right," Draco announced nearly an hour and half after he started. "You can walk through now."

He stepped through first, and watched them slowly get to their feet, yawning. They all hesitated before the doorway.

"I'll go first," Harry said uncertainly, and stepped through. 

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm as if she expected Harry to suddenly howl with pain as his arms fell off. But nothing happened, and reluctantly they stepped through after him. 

"Do you have any idea what room she'll be in?" Ron hissed as Draco started to lead them into the house.

_In the same room they always put people they're about to torture_, Draco said to himself, but realized that wouldn't go too well with Ron. "Yes," was all he said.

It took about a minute to get to the room he wanted. He tried to knob and found it locked. _That means there are no hexes on it_, Draco thought.

"_Alohomora_," he said, pointing his wand at the door. 

It sprung open with a bang.

Ginny jumped when she heard a loud bang. Lifting her head, she saw the door had opened. Then, walking through the door, was Draco.

Slowly, Ginny sat up. To her horror, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Draco in. They pushed past him and hurried over to her, all three of them talking at the same time. 

"How did you get here –"

" – were so worried –"

" – are you okay? You look cold –"

Ginny felt numb as they fussed over her. She stared at them in shock. Not only was Harry in danger, so was Ron and Hermione. They would certainly be killed along with her.

"What's the matter, Gin?" Ron asked, some of the light fading from his smile. "Aren't you happy to see us?"

"No. . . ." She trailed off, then added, "I mean, yes . . . I mean – you can't – you've got to get out of here –"

"Of course, and you're coming with us," Harry said, grinning.

She tried to smile back, but failed miserably. _Maybe if we hurry quick enough we'll be able to get out_, she thought.

That hope was dashed as soon as they started to usher her towards the door, which was where Draco had remained standing. Behind him had appeared Lucius and Voldemort, trailed by at least a dozen Death Eaters.

Lucius stepped further into the room, and clapped a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Good work," he said as Voldemort and the rest came in.

The sound of the door shut behind their backs, over ten Death Eaters blocking their escape and sealing their doom.

A/N: I'll try to write as much as I can, but I'm afraid I won't have all the time in the world. Be patient and keep reviewing!


	11. Life and Death

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

A/N: SORRY this is taking so long to get posted. I've had it written for a while but I wasn't able to post it. Anyway, here's chapter eleven.

Chapter Eleven 

_Life and Death_

Draco's father's words echoed in his ears. "Good work. . . ."

For a moment, Draco wasn't really sure what he meant by it. Then he realized – he'd played right into Lucius's hand. He'd been _expecting_ that Draco would bring Harry with him. And without even thinking about it he'd done it . . . he'd brought Harry to his death.

Draco sure didn't like Potter, but he didn't want him _dead._ Even in the first few years at Hogwarts, when he'd been obeying his father, he hadn't really wanted to kill him. Not really anyway . . . except maybe when he won every single Quidditch match against Slytherins and always got the Snitch before him. But the feeling normally went away, and he sort of regretted thinking such things. 

Draco stepped away from his father now, wondering how he could have been so naive. He felt someone staring at him, and looked up to see Ginny. The look on her face made something jolt inside him. She looked like she was going to burst out crying at any moment, but also looked furious. Her expression clearly said _How could you do this?_

He scowled and glanced away. 

Three Death Eaters grabbed Harry, Ron, and Hermione, somehow finding their wands, and took them. One Death Eater released Harry and grabbed Ginny instead. They looked at Voldemort expectantly, waiting for instructions.

Voldemort simply raised his hand and flicked his unusually long fingers towards the door, indicating that they should leave. 

Lucius once again grabbed Draco's shoulder and started to steer him out. The only people who were staying were Harry and Voldemort.

Draco glanced back once, and saw that Harry looked so scared he would pass out at any second. He felt a pang of guilt and pulled his eyes away. The Death Eaters who held Ginny, Ron, and Hermione led them down a separate hall and he knew they were taking them to the dungeon. 

Lucius ran his eyes over Draco, and said quickly, "Get some rest." Then he and the rest of the Death Eaters went the opposite way and Draco was left alone outside the door.

Many thoughts ran through his mind. Most of them included just bursting in the room and somehow saving Harry. Then he realized he must have been over-tired and wasn't thinking rationally – how could he save Harry from the most powerful person alive?

_I need sleep_, he thought, and headed to his room.

Once there, he fell face down onto his bed. But he didn't fall asleep as quickly as he had anticipated. When he closed his eyes he kept picturing Ginny's accusing expression, and then Harry's terrified face. 

_It's too late_, he told himself. _Even if I free Ginny, Ron, and Hermione they'll just want to save Harry. They'll kill themselves in the process. Potter's probably dead by now anyway._

He felt sort of bad thinking that, but he forced himself to know that it was the truth. There was no use hoping . . . Harry most certainly would be dead in less than an hour if he weren't already.

_But I can save Ginny_, he contemplated. _Even though she hates me now. If I manage to save her, she'll still hate me for bringing Harry to die._

It wasn't like he'd meant to do it. He just had been in such a hurry to get here and bring Ginny back safely that he hadn't taken the time to think it out. If he had, then maybe Harry wouldn't be seconds from death.

_But for how much longer?_ _Someday Voldemort will eventually kill him. _

At least when Voldemort killed him some other time, Draco wouldn't feel so terrible. It wouldn't have been his fault Harry's life would have been shortened.

_And if I hadn't brought Potter then Ginny would probably be dead right now_, he figured. _Either way I kill someone._

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Should he try and save them? It wasn't like they'd get very far anyway. The place was crawling with Death Eaters – someone would see them. And he knew they'd want to check and see if Harry was alive. They wouldn't leave without him, even if he wasn't breathing.

Not to mention the fact they'd know that Draco had let them out of the dungeon. He wouldn't die as quickly as them – his father would be sure to make him suffer long and hard. Or maybe he would just keep him alive and knowing the fact that he'd been responsible for four deaths. 

_You're just being selfish_, he told himself. _A coward. Who cares what they do to _you_? At least you'll die knowing you tried to save someone else's life._

But he was used to being selfish. His whole life had always been about . . . well, him. The only time he'd ever really not thought about himself was when he refused to tell his father things about Potter. Every other time he always considered something before doing it, wondering, _What's in this for me? Will I benefit from it at all?_

Maybe it was because he hadn't slept in twenty-four hours and wasn't thinking straight, but right then and there he decided to do something. He nearly jumped off his bed and headed towards the room where all the Death Eaters normally lounged around when they weren't doing anything. He pushed open the door and stepped in. 

The Death Eaters all went silent and looked at him.

_One good thing about being a Malfoy – most people listen to you_, he thought smugly, sticking his chin in the air to show how much better he thought he was. "My father wants the prisoners' wands. To destroy them."

"Why didn't he come here himself?" one Death Eater demanded suspiciously.

"Because he wanted me to come," Draco snapped. 

"Tell him to come himself," the Death Eater retorted.

"All right," Draco said, turning and starting to leave. "But he won't be pleased to hear you refused –"

"Just give them to him," another Death Eater said wearily. 

The first Death Eater reluctantly reached into his robes and produced the three wands. He placed them in Draco's outstretched hands, muttering something rude. Draco smirked and left the room, feeling very smooth.

Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were placed in different cells, but they were right next to one another. The cells had absolutely nothing in them but a wooden chair that groaned under Ginny's weight when she sat down on it. 

Because the floor was damp, she tried to keep her feet up. The temperature in the room she'd been in before was nearly a sauna compared to where she was now. 

She sat cross-legged in her chair, her head propped up by her hands. She was thinking many things . . . half of her wanted to believe that Draco hadn't done what he had. The other half, the _smarter_ half, knew that he had done it – he'd brought Harry to die.

Ron was pacing in the cell beside Ginny's, muttering to himself.

"So _stupid_ . . . actually trusted him . . . _Harry_ trusted him . . . should've known. . . ."

"Aren't we even going to try and get out of here?" Hermione demanded, gripping the bars and pressing her face between them, staring into Ron's cell. Her cheeks were wet from tears but she managed to keep a relatively sleek voice.

"What can we do?" Ginny said helplessly. She hated sounding so whinny, but everything seemed so hopeless.

"They wouldn't put us in cells that we could actually escape from," Ron said realistically. "Even a Malfoy wouldn't be that dumb."

"Well . . . we should try," Hermione said, tears dripping from her eyes too quickly for her to stop. "I mean, we've got to try for Harry. He might be still alive – what am I talking about, of _course_ he's still alive – and we could probably still save him."

"Hermione, you know that I would like nothing in the world more than to save Harry right now, don't you?" Ron said, crossing over and grabbing both of Hermione's hands through the bars. "But even if we manage to escape it will take hours. And even when we do get out, and Harry's alive, we can't possibly be strong enough to be able to distract You-Know-Who long enough to save him. It would result in at least one of us dying."

"That's three less than if we sit here and do nothing," Hermione said firmly.

Ginny was amazed at Hermione's strength. Of course she wanted to get out there and save Harry, but she agreed with Ron. There was no way they could do it. And she was feeling so torn up inside at the moment she wasn't even sure if she wanted to live. If she did manage to get out alive then she'd hate herself forever, knowing that she'd been responsible for Harry's death.

"And we don't even have our wands," Ron added softly, wiping Hermione's tears away with his thumbs.

Ginny looked away, feeling awkward. Her brother kept talking softly with Hermione in a reassuring way, and Ginny couldn't help but wish he were comforting her, too.

_It's all because of Draco_, she thought with a sudden rush of anger. _If I hadn't been so stupid . . . if I hadn't gone off with him, Ron wouldn't be so cold with me right now._

But she had been stupid . . . she had brought all of them into this mess. And she had no idea how to get them out.

Just when she was about to break down sobbing, she heard footsteps. She straightened and looked in the direction they were coming from. Ron stepped away from Hermione and went to the front of his cell, peering out of the bars.

It was Draco.

Ginny felt slightly speechless for a moment, staring at him in shock. Fortunately, Ron shook her out of her reverie.

"You stupid son of a bitch!" he shouted at Draco. "How can you even show your face to us right now? Don't you have any heart at all? Do you realize that you practically gift-wrapped Harry to the one person who wants to kill him the most?!"

Draco's face was unreadable as he replied in a grim tone, "I am aware of that."

He glanced at Ginny, whose mind was reeling. For a moment there she'd thought he'd come to let them out. _Is he just coming to tell me what a fool I've been, believing that he actually liked me? Is he here to rub it in all our faces?_

Then he reached into his robes and pulled out three wands. Ginny recognized them as Harry's, Ron's, and Hermione's.

He handed all three of them to Ron, who took them, looking a bit speechless. Ron gave Hermione hers and put Harry's away in his robes, keeping his out, pointing it at Draco.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't do it," he spat angrily.

"You won't have a chance to save Harry," Draco replied instantly.

"Is he still alive?" Ron followed, not lowering his wand.

"I don't know."

There was a long silence.

Draco pulled out his own wand and stood in front of Hermione's cell. "There are hexes on these cells as well," he said. "This might take a while. _Alohomora_."

Hermione's cell door sprung open, but she made no attempt to leave. Draco got down on his knees and started murmuring a lot of words Ginny couldn't make out. He did that for nearly twenty minutes before standing up and moving to Ron's cell. "You can come out," he said tightly.

Almost an hour later, they were all out of their cells. Ginny wasn't sure whether to hug Draco or hit him. Instead, she just didn't look at him at all. 

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked Draco harshly. He was in the process of draping his robes over Ginny, who could no longer feel her fingers or toes and was sure she was trembling like a leaf.

"Probably in the same room we left him in," Draco answered simply, his gray eyes expressionless. 

"Then take us there," Hermione spoke up sharply.

"If you're seen by anybody you'll be killed," he told her truthfully. "I can lead you out a secret way that no one will see you –"

Ron grabbed Draco by the collar of his robes and shoved him against the wall. "We're not leaving without Harry," he hissed.

Draco didn't look the least bit disturbed by Ron's fit of fury. "I figured. So if one minute your walking and the next your dead, it won't be my fault."

"It will be _entirely_ your fault," Hermione said heatedly.

Ron took a step back and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out the Invisibility Cloak, which by the size of it never looked like it could've fit in his small pocket.

"How did you hide that, Ron?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"I put an Enlarging Spell on my pocket and put it in there. Then I put an Anti-Bulge Charm on it so no one would see," he explained quickly. "It was when we first walked in this place."

"Now we have a way to hide," Hermione said, barely able to contain her relief.

"Follow me," Draco said simply, and started to leave without even giving them a chance to throw the cloak over themselves.

It was a tight fit, the three of them under the Invisibility Cloak. They had to hunch over so it would cover their feet, too. It was not the most comfortable walk of Ginny's life, but she figured she should be grateful that they were at least _trying_ to save Harry.

About a minute later, they stood in front of the door they had seen just a couple of hours ago. Draco opened it (it was unlocked) and they all went in, throwing the cloak of themselves when the door shut behind them.

Ginny's eyes scanned the room, but Hermione spotted it first. She let out a cry and covered her mouth with her hand, pointing. Ginny followed the direction of her finger and saw the still form of Harry in the corner.

The three of them moved as one and were crouching beside him in less than a second. He had been on his side, one arm thrown over to cover his face. Ron rolled him onto his back and they stared down at him.

Ginny grabbed his hand. It felt like ice.

Harry had many small cuts on his face, but only one had really bled a lot. His lightning bolt scar was bright red, standing out against his pale skin.

"Is he . . . he isn't. . . ." Hermione whispered, reaching up to wipe some strands of hair off his forehead.

"He's alive," Draco said suddenly. Ginny hadn't noticed that he was standing over them. "He's breathing."

He was right. Harry's chest was moving up in down as he took shaky, nearly silent, breaths. Ginny nearly collapsed with relief. 

"But he's so cold," Hermione said.

"He's just barely alive," Ron commented, his voice as panicked as Ginny had ever heard it. "I guess Voldemort thought he killed him but hadn't. Otherwise he would be dead now."

"He won't make it back to Hogwarts," Ginny said softly. "He needs help _now_."

"Yeah, okay, Ginny, then you go and ask Voldemort for some help," Ron snapped.

Ginny tried not to appear stung by his words. "I was reading a book of medical spells once," she said quietly, "and I read about something called a Life Spell."

"There's no such thing," Hermione told her immediately.

"There is," Ginny argued. "I even went to ask Madam Pomfrey about it because I wasn't sure if it was true or not. She agreed, reluctantly, that it does work."

"So what does it do? It can't bring people back from the dead – nothing can," Ron said. He gently slapped Harry's cheek. _As if he'll wake up_, Ginny thought sadly.

"I never said it did," she answered. "It's when someone gives some of their life to another person – someone who was near death. If the person has a life-threatening disease, like cancer, it'll only keep that person alive a little longer. But if someone had been suffering from an accident that was not growing in his or her body, like someone in a coma, then it could work. And it just might work to keep Harry alive long enough for us to get him to a doctor."

"Are you sure about this, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"It's worth a try," Draco said icily.

Ginny didn't even flick her eyes at him. She kept her gaze on Harry. Of course, she hadn't told them that when she'd asked Madam Pomfrey about it, the nurse had said it was very dangerous to do. "Some people die trying to give their life to other people," she had informed her. "They don't know when or how to stop. It's very dangerous and no one ever attempts it much . . . only very strong wizards and witches."

But Ginny had caused all of this to happen. It was her fault Harry was minutes from death in front of her. And she was going to save him, even if she died in the process.

"You don't have your wand, do you?" Ron asked.

"I don't need it," she replied. 

She positioned herself so that her palms were flat on Harry's cheeks. Hermione was right – he _was_ very cold. If he hadn't been breathing he would've looked and felt dead.

Closing her eyes, Ginny tried to remember the spell. It was one of those things that you had to chant, not just a simple little word. She had memorized it, having thought that it might come in handy some day. She was glad she did.

"_From the lowest point the water rushes, to the highest place the wind runs through_," she recited softly, "_I hope that you will live with my life I put into you._"

Instantly she felt different. It was as if someone were sucking the strength out of her. Her muscles felt like they were draining power. In less than a few seconds she already felt weak at the thought of even lifting an arm. Images ran through her mind, and it was of her life. She was actually _seeing_ her life being played by her, from the time at her third birthday party (the earliest she could remember) to kissing Draco by the lake. It all went by so quickly, and yet she saw everything perfectly. 

Then even thinking became an effort. A little voice in the back of her head was telling her to stop, that she was going to far, that she would die if she didn't pull away. But it seemed so far away, and thinking about moving was too tiring. All she wanted to do was sleep and never wake up – 

"_Ginny_!"

With effort, she opened her eyes. She felt drained, but at least she could move. Ron had pulled her hands off of Harry's cheeks, and both him and Hermione were staring at her.

"I thought you were going to pass out," Ron said. "I had to stop you."

He didn't realize he'd saved her life. But before Ginny could reply, Harry stirred and all eyes went back to him.

For a little while, he just moaned and his eyelids fluttered. Finally he woke up, blinking repeatedly as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Ron?" he said, his voice crackling.

Ron laughed in relief and helped him into a sitting position. "You did it, Gin!" Hermione cried happily, throwing her arms around Harry's neck. 

Ginny remained on the floor while Ron, Harry, and Hermione stood up. Hermione chatted nonstop while Harry listened and Ron grinned. 

She felt a lot better suddenly. Everything looked a little brighter. Harry was alive, and they had the Invisibility Cloak. They would be able to get out of there . . . all of them. She glanced at Draco, who stood apart from them, his expression blank. _Well, almost all of us._

"He kept going on about the Brother Amulets," Harry said to Ron and Hermione. He was obviously referring to Voldemort. "He said when they were joined . . . something about power. . . ."

Ginny jumped to her feet and joined their conversation.

"Do you have the gold one, Ginny?" Harry asked her.

She pulled it out from underneath her shirt. "Yes. Why?"

He gave her a brief smile and took it from her. "I have an idea."

A/N: Hee hee. You didn't really think Draco would leave them there to rot, did you? Of course not. But will Ginny forgive him? Well, I guess you'll find out soon . . . but not before Harry puts his plan into action. You'll find out what the plan is next chapter ;) Well, off I go now, please review or I just might stop here! ::gasps:: Wouldn't that be terrible? 


	12. The Invincible Lord Voldemort

Disclaimer: You know already 

Disclaimer: You know already . . . must I repeat myself? This is such a waste of time.

A/N: Sorry for the depressing title – but it will all turn out well.

Chapter Twelve The Invincible Lord Voldemort 

"Malfoy, tell us everything you know about the Brother Amulets," Harry ordered.

Draco raised an eyebrow, but kept his expression unreadable. "Honestly, Potter, do you really reckon that –"

"Just tell us," Harry snapped.

A little surprised at his outburst, Draco sighed and pretended to be agitated. "My father tells me that when dark and light is joined, it will release a power great enough to obliterate practically everything on the planet."

"But you told me that it could make a man invincible," Ginny interrupted.

When he looked at her, she quickly averted her eyes. She looked so cold, nearly swimming in the robes Ron had put on her, that her lips had a bluish tinge. Also, she was very pale, but he wasn't sure if it was because she'd nearly drained her life out trying to save Harry or because of the temperature of her body. For a minute, he actually considered hugging her and trying to warm her up. He quickly shook the image from his mind and answered her question.

"It could do anything," he finally replied. "It's very powerful."

"What do you mean by dark and light?" Harry inquired. He was holding both amulets in each hand and wasn't even looking at Draco.

"I thought it meant good and evil," Draco said, still sounding annoyed. "But now that I've seen them in probably means the color of them. The gold with the diamonds is the light, and the silver with the black stones is dark."

"Well, he's joining them," Ron said, looking over Harry's shoulder as he attempted to do what Ginny had on the plane – press the amulets together. "And nothing's happening."

"Exactly," Draco said lazily. "Voldemort obviously had both of them in his possession – you think he'd use them as Portkeys if he could get the power out of them by just simply pressing them together?"

"So . . . what's the use of them?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"Either the story about them is just a myth," Draco told her, "or two _different_ people have to join them. Not just one."

"Someone dark and someone light," Ginny whispered.

They all stared at her for a moment. Then Harry said, "You mean someone evil and someone good?"

"In that case, we've got that pair right here," Ron declared, sounding overly bright. "Malfoy would make a perfect candidate for the dark amulet."

Draco pretended not to have heard and was about to say something else on the subject of the amulets when Ginny interrupted him.

"Maybe not good and evil," she said, her dark brown eyes wide with excitement as she began to piece it together. "Like Dra – Malfoy said: color. Maybe it means someone with dark coloring and someone with light coloring."

Draco thought about this. It was possible. But how could they be sure? "Why don't you tell us your plan first, Potter," he said.

"The amulets are probably what will destroy Voldemort," he blurted quickly. His eyes, like Ginny's, were also a little too bright for the situation they were in. "When we join them, the power will probably kill –"

"Don't be stupid, Potter," Draco snapped instantly. "If they would, why do you think he would've given them up? He would be guarding them with his life right now."

"Maybe he doesn't know," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"The man is one of the most smartest – and cleverest – in the world," Draco continued venomously. "And anyway – in case you haven't noticed, Potter, he left you half-alive for a reason. He's not stupid enough to leave one of his victims alive. Even if he thought you were dead by torturing you, he would've used the Killing Curse just to be sure."

"And how would you know all this, Malfoy?" Ron snarled, looking as if he would jump on Draco at any second if Hermione hadn't had her arm laced through his.

He chose not to answer. "If the amulets could kill him, he wouldn't have let us get our hands on them. And even if he had, he would've gotten them back. He knows we still have them."

"It's a worth a try, isn't it?" Hermione said quietly. "I mean, we could at least try to join the amulets –"

"The only thing you have to lose is your lives," Draco interrupted. "If that's something you're ready to give up, then go ahead. I'm not going to stop you."

"We can't do it without you, Malfoy," Harry said, rather reluctantly. "If Ginny's right, then we need someone light. You are the only one who has light enough hair and light enough eyes to hold the gold amulet."

It was true. Ron and Ginny had red hair and dark eyes, Hermione had brown hair and brownish-bluish eyes, and Harry had black hair and green eyes. 

"Who would do the silver one?" Hermione whispered.

The answer was obvious. Harry, of course. Not only did he have the darkest hair, but also he was the most tan of them all. Hermione looked paler then the Weasleys because she didn't have freckles. The Weasleys were very pale, not to mention they had somewhat light hair.

Everyone was quiet a long time. Draco wasn't sure that they were even thinking along the right track. What they were saying made sense, but it seemed very far-fetched from the information he told them. 

"We need you, Malfoy, if we're going to do this," Harry repeated.

Draco frowned. Dark and light . . . it could mean many things. How could they be so sure it meant dark and light colors? What if it meant evil and good? Draco wasn't sure he'd go as far as to call himself _evil_, but even if he did, he'd have to hold the dark amulet. Not the light one. And who knew if those rumors about the power the amulets had was even true? 

"What do you think we'll gain from doing this, Potter?" he asked at last.

"Like I said before – it should kill Voldemort," answered Harry.

"But we can't be sure," Draco pointed out. "So let's say we go with this plan – we burst in there and press the amulets together. There is a strong possibility it won't even do anything. And then even if it does, Voldemort will have been able to kill us in less than a second before any power starts to accumulate."

"He's probably right," Ron said, looking as though agreeing with Draco was the last thing in the world he had wanted to do. "It's too risky, Harry. I say we just leave – we have the Invisibility Cloak –"

"I'm _tired_ of running," Harry cut in. "For the past seven years of my life, I've had to worry about someone who works for Voldemort or Voldemort himself popping up and killing me. Now we actually have a way to defeat him once and for all. And you want me to run some more? Once I'm out of Hogwarts, I'll always be looking over my shoulder since Dumbledore won't be around. Not to mention I hate not being able to go somewhere on my own. Even at Hogsmeade I know people are always watching me. It's uncomfortable and I'm tired of it."

There was a long silence. Then Hermione said quietly, "Harry, we all understand where you're coming from, but he could kill you easily. You're only seventeen."

Harry stared at the wall for what seemed like the longest time. Finally, he turned to Draco and spoke. "Are you going to help me or not?"

Draco took just as long to reply. There was a small chance this wild plan could work. And if he helped Harry finish Voldemort, no longer would he hear how great the famous Potter was. He would be just as popular and respected. But for some reason, that thought didn't really convince him as much as he thought it should.

Instead, it was the look in Harry's eyes. His expression was hard to read, but his eyes were pleading with Draco. And for some reason, he actually agreed. "I want to be buried in a red and blue striped coffin," he said slowly, and smirked.

Harry looked confused for a moment, then realized he was agreeing to help him. He grinned broadly and looked as though he could've actually touched him. Draco was glad he contained himself.

"Why red and blue stripes?" Hermione wondered.

"Because I don't think anyone as ever been buried in a coffin like that before," Draco answered smoothly. 

"So what do we do?" Ron asked, his hands on his hips. "Should we go back to Hogwarts and send help?"

"That'll take too long," Harry answered. "I need you three to keep the Death Eaters out of our way. Somehow, we're going to have to get Voldemort alone."

"Where is he now?" Ginny demanded.

"He's probably in my father's room," Draco replied. "All the Death Eaters should be downstairs. Knowing my father, he's probably with Voldemort."

"We'll have to draw him out," Harry said, and they quickly formulated a plan.

Five minutes later, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were all crowded under the Invisibility Cloak. If Ginny had thought three people had been cramped, she was very mistaken. Once more they were hunched over, Ginny pressed against Ron's back. Beside her, Hermione's elbow was digging into her ribs. She didn't complain even though it hurt a lot.

"I wish I could see what you all looked like," Draco said, smirking with amusement. 

"You sure you can't see anything? No feet or heads or anything?" Harry asked.

"I can't see a thing," Draco replied, and started to lead them out of the room.

It was hard walking. Ginny was constantly stepping on the back of Ron's shoes. By the time they reached their destination, Ron's shoes were nearly all the way off his feet.

"Wait right here," Draco said quietly, gesturing to the wall next to the doorway. 

He disappeared into the room, shutting the door behind him. Ginny strained her ears to hear what was being said, but the walls were really thick. She couldn't even hear muffled voices.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry all had their wands out and pointed at the door. Ginny's back began to ache and she desperately wished she could stand up and stretch. But she remained still and waited.

Finally, Draco came out, followed by Lucius. His father looked very annoyed, shutting the door behind him and then turning his backs to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. He blocked their view of Draco, which was exactly what they'd been hoping for.

"How many times have I told you not to interrupt me?" Lucius demanded harshly. "Do you know how stupid I looked in there when you kept nagging me –"

"_Now_!" Harry hissed.

The three of them that had wands all said as loudly as they could without shouting, "_Stupefy!_" Lucius was thrown to the side, hitting the wall hard, and then fell to the floor with a sickening thump.

They pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of them and Ginny straightened. Harry pulled out the dark amulet he had under his shirt, and Draco already held the gold one.

"Make sure no one gets in here," Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione. Ginny wasn't to do anything, since she didn't have her wand.

Ron handed Harry the cloak, and he draped it over him and Draco. They disappeared from view. The door opened and shut, letting Ron, Hermione, and Ginny know that they were inside the room with Voldemort.

Ginny was worried to death. She thought she would just be worried for Harry, but she was just as concerned for Draco. For some reason, she couldn't be angry with him anymore. He had rescued them and had sort of helped them save Harry's life. And now he was going to help try and defeat the Dark Lord. No matter what anyone else thought, Ginny knew that Draco had a heart – a big one – but he just didn't have any reason to show it. 

_Oh, please let them come out alive_, she pleaded, closing her eyes tightly. _They can't die . . . _

Ginny wasn't sure what she'd do if they did.

Voldemort looked up as the door opened and Draco and Harry, invisible, came in. He was sitting at Lucius' desk and shifting through some parchments. When the door shut, he didn't look the least bit confused. He merely looked back down as if doors opened themselves all the time.

For the first time in his life, Draco was afraid. He could feel Harry shaking beside him – and he knew he himself wasn't _that_ scared. But he began to think. Did he really want to die? Not really . . . he wanted to grow up and become a famous Quidditch player. Make his own money and never speak to his family again. Never get married but have a lot of gorgeous, young girlfriends and perhaps adopt some kids – ten-year-olds; kids who could take care of themselves without needing his help all the time. 

It was a plan he'd actually been looking forward to. And the prospect of it not happening had never occurred to him. He'd never thought he'd die until he was a fat old man. 

There was now a strong possibility he'd die a lean young man. The thought sort of shook him up. 

"Take that ridiculous cloak off, Harry," Voldemort said calmly, jolting Draco out of his reverie. "Your father used to use it all the time – you think I cannot see you?"

Slowly, Harry took the cloak off them. Draco silently cursed himself. Their first mistake – assuming that Voldemort couldn't see through Invisibility Cloaks.

Voldemort looked up at them and smiled. It was a smile that contained no humor and actually made Draco feel even more afraid. He really hoped no one could tell what he was feeling.

"Are you wondering why I've let you live this far?" he asked Harry, almost pleasantly, ignoring Draco completely. 

Harry did not answer.

"The truth is," Voldemort said, standing up gracefully (he suddenly seemed a lot taller), "is that I couldn't kill you. I need you."

_Did I miss something?_ Draco thought, stunned. _Voldemort _needs_ Harry Potter? So what . . . he hasn't really been trying to kill Harry for the past seven years?_

"Oh, at first I tried to kill you," Voldemort continued, noticing the shocked looks on both of their faces. "Until recently when I realized you're the only one who can help me be even more powerful than I am now." He flicked his red eyes at Draco. "You, too, young Malfoy. I need you both."

"We won't help you do anything," Harry snapped. For someone who was shaking so hard he sure had a strong voice.

Lord Voldemort made a noise that sounded a little like a laugh. "I expected you wouldn't," he said. "You are too much like your father." He glanced at Draco again. "You, on the other hand, are not enough like your father."

Draco stared right back without giving away anything in his expression. Finally, Voldemort returned his stare to Harry.

"I suppose Dumbledore never told you why I needed to kill your father, did he?" he asked menacingly. When he got no answer, he continued. "Your mother didn't need to die – she just got in the way. I suppose it never occurred to you that you are the reason she's dead?"

This time, Draco got a feeling that Harry's shaking was more from anger than fright.

"The truth is that I hoped to have your father dead before he could reproduce," Voldemort said. "But I didn't know who he was at the time. I always knew that there would be someone who would be able to defeat me – but I had never been able to find out whom. The fool, Dumbledore, always knew. He told James Potter that he was the only one who could kill me. That's why they needed a Secret-Keeper – I suppose Dumbledore never told you that, either? Fortunately, I was able to get the information from their Secret-Keeper. I killed James and then I tried to kill you. If you lived you would also be able to destroy me. I had not seen that your idiot mother would've put a spell on you that protected you. But," he added somewhat brightly, "everything comes out perfectly, because now you are alive and you will help me become the most powerful person in the world."

_You already are_, Draco thought. And another thought bothered him – Voldemort was acting so confident. He should know that they hadn't come in there to help him. They were there to kill him. He said that Harry was the other person who could defeat him. So why was he so comfortable with everything?

Now nervousness was mixed in with fear. Voldemort knew something they didn't.

"How do you reckon we will help you?" Harry demanded.

"You will." The confidence and smoothness only added to Draco's suspicion. 

Harry met Draco's eyes. Draco knew that he wanted them to join the amulets now. For some reason, something inside him was telling him not to. Something was very wrong.

_Just do it_, he told himself. _It's worth a try – who knows, maybe Potter is actually right once in his life. After all, Voldemort told us he is the one who can defeat him. Maybe he wasn't suspecting the amulets to be here._

They each counted to three in their heads. Then, in one fluid movement, they both reached and slapped the amulets together – the smooth side without the stones – high above their heads. Instantly they began to glow. Draco dropped his hand and took a step back. They were _floating_ in the air.

_It worked!_ Draco thought.

The amulets' chains wrapped together, floating higher into the air. It gave off a bright white light and after a moment, it hurt Draco's eyes to look at it. Instead, he turned his eyes towards Voldemort.

Voldemort didn't look frightened at all. Instead, he looked rather ecstatic. Draco's excitement level dropped down to none. Voldemort was happy that they'd joined the amulets together!

As he watched, the light from the amulets began to move towards the Dark Lord. The amulets themselves remained, but the light floated towards him. It hit him smack in the chest. Unable to think, Draco watched as the light glowed from deep within Voldemort, making him seem almost like a yellow ghost.

And he was _laughing_.

Draco knew instantly they had made a huge mistake.

"I told you that you would help me!" he cackled. "Did your father not tell you anything, Draco? The powers from the amulets make me _invincible!_ I'm now the most powerful being in the Universe!"

Draco felt slightly sick. They'd helped Voldemort – now nothing could stop him. He could do whatever he pleased and nothing, not even Dumbledore, could make him quit.

"I don't need a wand anymore," Voldemort said gleefully. With a wave of his arms, five wide stone pillars erupted from the ground. It didn't even make a mark in the floor.

Voldemort merely flicked both his hands and it felt as though something gigantic had picked Draco up by the waist. He was thrown hard against one of the pillars. His head snapped back and he was dazed for a moment, actually seeing bright dots in his vision, but vaguely felt thick leather cords wrap around him and bind him to the pillar. The cords covered him from his chest down to his ankles.

On the pillar beside him, the same thing had happened to Harry.

"Why not invite your friends in?" Voldemort asked. 

He gestured wildly with his arms and the door burst open. Some unseen force brought Hermione, Ron, and Ginny in. He had them tied to the three remaining pillars like Draco and Harry were.

"Since you helped me," Voldemort said to Harry, sounding disgustingly happy, "then I will give you the chance to live. You have the choice to join me as a Death Eater."

Everyone in the room looked at Harry. Draco expected him to say no instantly, but he didn't. Instead, he was staring hard at the light that was glowing from Voldemort's chest.

"I am not going to wait very long," Voldemort said lazily. "You have until the count of five – after that, you are dead."

Harry didn't even look like he'd heard him. Draco wondered why he was staring so hard. What was he trying to do?

Across from Draco, Ginny was squirming and trying to get out of the cords. Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry helplessly, but looking just as confused as Draco. 

"One," Voldemort began counting.

Harry finally tore his gaze from him to look at Draco. They stared at each other for the longest time. Draco got the impression he was trying to tell him something with his eyes. 

"Two."

_I'm not a mind reader, you idiot!_ Draco thought. _How am I supposed to know what you're trying to tell me?_

But Harry kept his eyes on Draco, expectantly, as if he was waiting for him to catch on any second.

"Three."

_You're dead in two seconds!_ _I don't know what you want me to do._

And suddenly, it clicked. Draco instantly understood what Harry was trying to tell him. The only way to defeat Voldemort was to kill him with the power that made him invincible.

Draco fixed his eyes on Voldemort and started concentrating. He wanted the amulets' powers to destroy him. That's what Harry had tried to do before – tried to make the powers kill the Dark Lord. But he couldn't do it himself. He needed help. 

Draco imagined the power killing Voldemort once and for all. The only way to kill him was to direct the powers – _it can be used to make a man invincible or destroy the whole world. Why can't it destroy the man who's invincible?_

"Four." Voldemort's voice sounded far off, but Draco was sure it wavered a little.

The light glowing in Voldemort began to get brighter. He never made it to five. Soon, the light engulfed the whole room in a flash of white. Draco squeezed his eyes shut since it was too bright, even though the light seeped into his eyelids.

It got windy. The air tore at Draco's hair and whistled by his ears. It sounded as if they were in the middle of a tornado. The commotion went on for nearly two minutes (which is a long time when you're not doing anything). Finally, the light disappeared and Draco felt the pressure of the leather cords loosen. 

When he opened his eyes, the pillars were gone. The room was perfectly in order. The only people who now in the whole house were Draco, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Lucius Malfoy.

A/N: This isn't the end yet. There's one more chapter. And I'm thinking of making a sequel – I'll tell you the title next chapter. Keep reviewing and tell me what you think of Voldemort's end! (Or is he really gone?)


	13. The End

Disclaimer: YOU KNOW

Disclaimer: YOU KNOW 

A/N: Okay, this is the last chapter! 

Chapter Thirteen The End

The next few days passed by in a blur for Ginny. She returned to Hogwarts, of course. Everyone wanted to know what had happened, despite Dumbledore's long speech about how she, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco were not to be pestered for the story.

Ginny felt like she was a zombie. Her whole family came for the big feast held in the honor of Voldemort's defeat. And there was also a two-week vacation for the whole school since he was gone. While everyone else was happy about all this, she just moved without feeling. 

She desperately wanted to talk with Draco – she knew he was the reason she felt so numb. But whenever she saw him he was always surrounded by a gaggle of girls, even first year Hufflepuffs, who he used to always make fun of, and she was too embarrassed to approach him. His relationship with Harry, Ron, and Hermione had changed dramatically. He now ignored them. They never paid any attention to each other. Ginny wasn't sure if this was positive or negative.

Three days before they got out of their September-October vacation, Ginny went for a long walk. Eventually she made her way outside into the chilly late afternoon air. When she glanced towards the lake, her heart rose. She spotted Draco's silver hair. He was leaning back on his elbows along the edge of the lake.

Ginny approached him wordlessly. He didn't even look at her as she sat on her knees, facing him. It was then she noticed he wasn't wearing any shoes or socks. 

She attempted a grin. "Aren't you cold?" she asked, gesturing at his feet. For some reason, she noticed how perfect his toenails were.

"I'm always cold," he answered blankly, staring out across the lake.

Her smile faded. "Draco, what really happened when your father came the other night?"

"I went home for a little while."

"What did you do there?"

"Had a wonderful heart to heart with my father dearest. Why?"

He still would not look at her. Ginny wondered if he was upset. Lucius Malfoy had been put in Azkaban and was the only Death Eater they had found – the rumor was that everyone else had disappeared along with Voldemort. Some had strong doubts that he was really gone. But even if he were merely a spirit like he'd been reduced to when Lily Potter's spell had taken his powers he would at least be out of the way for another ten years.

"Why is getting a straight answer from you like pulling teeth?" Ginny cried, exasperated.

"I can't say I know how hard pulling teeth is," he replied smoothly. "I've never had one pulled before."

"It's an expression," she huffed. She'd forgotten how he could agitate her so easily. Then why was he all she could think about when they were separated? Why did she feel so hopeless without him? "Whatever happened must've caused your father to kidnap me," Ginny continued after she simmered down a little. 

"Perhaps."

"Then don't I have a right to know?"

"Sure you do. I just don't feel like telling you."

Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling herself to calm down. _Don't scratch his eyeballs out – you'll regret it later_, she assured herself.

"Obviously, all along Voldemort had been planning for Potter and I to join the amulets together and help him become invincible," Draco finally answered slowly. "We were the only ones who could do it. So Voldemort and my father decided to set a trap for the both of us: you were the bait. They knew that the both of us would come and as it turns out they were right."

Ginny thought this over. Did that mean that Draco cared enough to try and save her? But honestly – why didn't he tell any adult where he was going? Was he really that confident he could do it himself?

_Yes_, she answered her own question. _Draco thinks he can do anything._

"Maybe you should put your socks back on," she said, gazing at his feet. "I think you're starting to turn blue."

"I'll never be any color but white," Draco replied coolly, but sat up and started to pull his socks on. For the first time, he looked at her. "Why do you care?"

"Because I don't want you to blend in with your coffin," Ginny said with a grin.

He half-smirked at her. "It wouldn't be solid blue – blue and red _stripes_. Remember that."

"Why? I don't suspect I'm going to be the one arranging your funeral."

"That's right. You'll probably die before me anyway."

He was joking, and Ginny actually laughed. To her surprise, Draco's smirk melted into a genuine smile. A smile that reached his eyes. Ginny suddenly felt a lot more comfortable with him.

Draco leaned back on his elbows again. "You know I wasn't apart of that plan, don't you?"

Ginny stared at him, startled. His gray eyes bore right back into hers, making her feel slightly light-headed. She smiled half-heartedly and joked, "What, your funeral plan?"

"You know what plan I mean."

"Do I? I thought I was brain dead."

Draco gave her another real smile and looked like he wanted to laugh. He put his hands behind his head and lowered it to the ground. "Now you're getting smarter."

"I know."

"What, that you're smarter? I never said you were _smart_, I just said that you were _smarter_ –"

"No, I mean I know that you weren't apart of the plan," she interrupted.

"I never wanted Potter dead. Well – except when he beats me in Quidditch. And when it's all his fault Slytherin lost the House Cup. And the time he got full marks on the Transfiguration exam and I failed it. And when he actually finds Weasley funny. And when he actually believes that Granger is smart –"

"So basically all the time, huh?" Ginny cut in, laughing. "But I wouldn't say you wanted him dead. I'd say you were jealous."

"Draco Malfoy does not get jealous. Why should I? I have everything. Looks, money, personality, skill. . . ."

"Me," Ginny blurted before she could stop herself.

Draco fixed his eyes on her, and smirked slowly. "Sure do think highly of yourself, do you? You think you're everything?"

"To me I am," she replied uncomfortably.

Draco sat up quickly. "I have a question for you."

"I guess it's your turn to ask the questions," she said, pretending to be interested in picking at the grass.

"Do you still like Potter?"

She looked up sharply. "How did you know I liked him?"

"God, Ginny, the entire school knew. I'm surprised it wasn't in the paper."

"I'm embarrassed now," she said, feeling her cheeks burn.

"Answer the question. I always answer yours."

"But it's like pulling teeth." She flashed him a grin before looking back at the ground again.

"I won't leave you alone until you answer, Weasley."

"Good," she said, and scooted closer to him. "I don't want you to leave."

He reached out absently and brushed a wavy strand of red hair off her forehead. "You're avoiding the question. Does that mean you do?"

"I'll always like Harry," Ginny admitted, putting her face so close to his the tips of their noses touched. "He's my friend. He's like a seventh brother almost."

"So you want him."

Ginny laughed softly. "I want you." Surprised at her own boldness, she kissed him on the lips. 

Once again, the kiss made her stomach flutter pleasantly. Somehow they shifted so she was in his lap, one arm around his neck and the other running through his silky hair. She had always thought kissing Draco would be awkward and embarrassing, but it was the total opposite. It felt so right. It wasn't something she'd regret later and she knew it.

They kissed by the lake for a long time. When Ginny finally pulled away the sun was nearly all the way down. Reluctantly, she said goodbye to Draco and hurried up to her common room. She had just given the password to the Fat Lady when it swung open and someone came running out, colliding into her. 

When she managed to regain her balance, she saw it was Harry.

"Where's the fire?" she cried as the Fat Lady swung close, leaving them in the hallway.

"Huh? Oh . . . nothing," he said, scratching the back of his head and looking down. "Just . . . I saw – Ron and Hermione – I mean, I always suspected they liked each other, but I didn't –"

"Were they kissing?" Ginny demanded eagerly.

Harry nodded.

"Why is that so terrible?" Ginny asked, clapping her hands together excitedly. 

"It was just – weird, I guess," Harry replied awkwardly. "Anyway, I was just going to look for you. I have something to tell you."

"Can it wait? I was just going to change for dinner –"

"I think you should hear it now," Harry told her.

"All right." Ginny tried to look serious, but she had never felt happier – things between her and Draco were working out, and Ron finally had a girlfriend. Ginny had always secretly hoped that Hermione would become her sister-in-law. 

"I heard about the Life Spell you performed," Harry began. Ginny instantly felt a little awkward. Some of her happiness faded. "And I read about it. Because I was feeling . . . well, different."

"You were?" Ginny said, confused. "Are you okay? Nothing went wrong, did it? Are you feeling better –?"

"It wasn't a bad different," Harry said hurriedly. "It was . . . it's kind of hard to say. I mean, it's kind of embarrassing."

"Well, it can't be too bad. Tell me."

"Ever since I woke up in that room I . . ."

Ginny waited patiently for him to finish.

"Well, what happened is that when you did the Life Spell you put some of yourself into me," Harry said. 

Ginny suddenly knew where this was going. "Oh no. You're not gay now, are you?"

"No!" Harry said quickly. "No, I'm obsessed with _you_!"

Ginny wasn't sure she'd heard right. She almost asked him to repeat it, but he was turning so red she was afraid he would explode if she forced him to say it again. 

She'd dreamed he would say something like that to her for the longest time. And now that it was happening she only felt terrible. So now she was apart of him because she'd given him some of her life. 

"Oh," Ginny said weakly. "Oh . . . I'm just . . . I'll be . . . I'm going to lie down for a little while, okay?"

She was so stunned she barely remembered the password for the Fat Lady, who had been listening to their whole conversation. Practically running all the way up to the dormitory, she flung herself onto her bed. She pressed her face into the pillow, wishing what had just happened hadn't. She didn't regret using the Life Spell on him. He would've died if she hadn't. But she hadn't expected that to happen. _What if Ron had done the spell?_ Ginny wondered. _Would he obsessing about Ron instead?_

The thought thoroughly disturbed her. The feelings he had for her weren't really true – they could be for anyone.

"Ohhh," Ginny moaned. 

"Gin, what's wrong?" Rachel asked. Rachel was reading in her bed and Ginny hadn't noticed her.

"Harry's obsessed with me," she said despairingly, her voice muffled by the pillow. 

She burst out crying.

THE END 

All right, that's my story! Please review and tell me what you thought of it! Will you read a sequel? If I don't get enough reviews I won't do a sequel, but if I do, it'll be called _The Return of Salazar Slytherin._ And it's about – that's right, you guessed it – the return of Salazar Slytherin! So keep a look out for it, and if it never comes, that means I didn't get enough reviews! Bye bye for now!


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